Background: We aimed to determine how does butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity change in the serum of NAFLD patients, whether there was a relationship between BChE and the severity of NAFLD and whether BChE could be used to distinguish the patients with simple hepatic steatosis from the patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
Methods: The study group consisted of 64 patients with NAFLD. Patients were examined for fatty liver index and in the serum, we investigated BChE activities and the concentrations of prealbumin, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerols and hyaluronic acid (HA). We also used FIB-4 index to evaluate liver fibrosis.
Results: BChE activity was significantly increased in NAFLD patients compared to the controls (4711 U/l vs 4028 U/l). Patients with higher concentrations of serum triacylglycerols and non-HDL cholesterol had also significantly higher activities of BChE. The comparison of BChE activity and parameters of liver fibrosis (HA and FIB-4) showed a significant negative correlation between these parameters. Patients with an increased concentration of HA had significantly lower BChE than the controls (3111 U/l vs 4028 U/l).
Conclusions: Our results showed increased BChE values in NAFLD patients. The comparison of changes in BChE activity with the changes in prealbumin levels and changes of both fibro markers showed that the examination of BChE activity could help to differentiate NAFLD patients with a simple hepatic steatosis from those with an advanced disease (Tab. 1, Fig. 7, Ref. 28). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: butyrylcholinesterase, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hyaluronic acid, FIB-4, fatty liver index.