Predictive Factors of Steatosis and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis in Morbidly Obese Patients Undergoing Bariatric Surgery

Background and Objectives: Obesity is one of the most health-threatening phenomena. It is estimated that over 1 billion adults have overweight or obesity. The current study aimed at presenting a detailed account of the findings that attempted to predict the severity of fatty liver disease and its sequelae, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, and cirrhosis, by correlating biopsy results with liver function tests and various metabolic markers of laboratory results in patients with morbid obesity. Methods: A total of 111 subjects participated in the study. The collected data included pathology study of liver biopsy, fasting blood glucose (FBS), liver function test (LFT), and lipid profile. Results: The correlation between fibrosis and steatosis was 0.493 (P = 0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) and correlation between fibrosis and NASH grade was 0.531 (P = 0.001, 95%CI). There was a significant relationship between aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and triglyceride (TG) with steatosis intensity and a significant positive relationship between AST, cholesterol, and FBS with NASH intensity. Conclusions: Levels of serum AST and TG showed significant relationship with steatosis and fibrosis intensities; AST, FBS, and cholesterol had a significant correlation with NASH intensity. Cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels had an inverse monotonic relationship with fibrosis intensity.