A Current Approach to Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Abstract

(1) Background: The relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is bidirectional: NAFLD increases the risk of T2DM, and T2DM promotes the progression of the disease into non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). (2) Material and methods: We performed a retrospective, open study that included 59 patients with NAFLD and T2DM who were distributed into two groups: 44 (74.57%) patients were diagnosed with hepatic steatosis (HS) and 15 (25.42%) patients were diagnosed with NASH. (3) Results: Among the non-specific inflammatory biomarkers, serum ferritin (SF) and the neutrophil-percentage-to-albumin ratio (NPAR) showed higher and statistically significant mean values (p = 0.003 respectively p = 0.03) in the group of patients with NASH and T2DM. Conclusions: Consequently, it is essential to identify alternative markers for the inflammatory process, particularly in individuals with diabetes, as it is a key characteristic of NASH. This need arises from the desire to avoid the risks associated with liver biopsy procedures (LBP) and to prevent the unpredictable and unfavorable progression of NAFLD in patients with T2DM.

Keywords

• non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• type 2 diabetes mellitus
• inflammatory process
• biological markers