Biomarkers of cardiovascular risk in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Background. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome (MetS), but its influence on the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is not fully clarifed at present. The obesity growth in all economically developed countries is connected with NAFLD, which is found in 20-40% of adults and is also associated with increasing CVD risk. The objective is to study the pathophysiological mechanism of NAFLD in connection with increased CVD risk and intensity of the liver fbrosis. Material and methods. A total of 129 patients with obesity and MetS aged from 27 to 59 years old were investigated and the correlation of fbrosis intensity (according to the METAVIR scoring system) with glucose metabolism parameters and pro-inflammatory cytokines in plasma was estimated. Results. It has been found a positive correlation between the intensity of liver fbrosis and concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines in plasma. The levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and PAI-1 in plasma of patients with F3-4 were signifcantly higher not only compared to F0– patients (p<0.05) and F1 – patients (p<0.05), but to F2 – patients (p<0.05) as well. Conclusion. NAFLD is a disease with an elevated level of inflammation markers such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukine-6 (IL-6) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in plasma, and this makes the risk of developing CVD much higher than in the healthy population.