Lipid profile of patients having non-alcoholic fatty liver disease as per ultrasound findings in north Indian population: A retrospective observational study

A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the lipid profile and body mass index (BMI) of the patients suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in north Indian population. A total of 385 ultrasound proven NAFLD patients were included in the study. The demographic and lipid profile such as total cholesterol, serum triglycerides, serum HDL, serum LDL and serum VLDL were recorded. The mean age of the patients was 46.65+/-15.06 years. The mean BMI was 29.50+/-3.34. Increased lipid levels were observed. Majority of the patients were in Grade 0 (83.4%) followed by Grade I (11.7%), Grade II (3.1%) and Grade III (1.8%). The total cholesterol level was significantly (p< 0.0001) higher among fatty liver Grade III (300.57+/-167.98) than Grade 0 (128.79+/-70.42), Grade I (181.89+/-55.22) and Grade II (221.09+/-97.73). Similarly, triglyceride level was also higher among the fatty liver Grade III (431.61+/-48.76) patients as compared to Grade 0 (121.60+/-61.11), Grade I (203.81+/-33.55) and Grade II (278.34+/-70.41) and the differences were statistically significant (p< 0.0001). Similar observations were found for HDL and VLDL. However, LDL was almost similar among all the grades of the pa-tients. There was no significant difference in the lipid levels with respect to gender. No association was found between fatty liver grade and sex and BMI. We found abnormal level of lipid profile amongst patients with fatty liver. A case-control study is recommended to find better understanding of lipid levels among NAFLD subjects.