Objective: To determine the relationship between lipid profile and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese children and adolescents.
Study design: A comparative cross-sectional study.
Place and duration of study: Department of Pediatrics, Kastamonu Training and Research Hospital, Turkey, from March 2018 to April 2021.
Methodology: Clinical, laboratory and ultrasound findings of 290 children and adolescents diagnosed with obesity were analysed. Children and adolescents were divided into two groups as those who were diagnosed with NAFLD by ultrasonography (USG) and those who did not were diagnosed. Two groups were compared in terms of clinical and biochemical findings.
Results: The body mass index (BMI), bodyweight for height (BWH), insulin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), free T4, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance) levels were found to be significantly higher (p<0.05) in the children and adolescents with NAFLD In obese children and adolescents; there was a significant correlation between the increase in TC, LDL-C and TG levels in the blood and the development of NAFLD (p<0.05). Blood ALT level ≥37 U/L in obese boys and ≥23.5 U/L in obese girls was found to be a strong diagnostic biomarker in determining the presence of NAFLD.
Conclusion: In obese children and adolescents, there was a significant relationship between the increase in BWH and blood lipid levels, insulin resistance and the development of NAFLD. ALT had high specificity and sensitivity to predict non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Key words: Obesity, Children, Hepatosteatoz.