The Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Ahvaz, Iran

Previous studies have shown that there may be a link between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Therefore, the present study was designed with the aim of investigating the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with NAFLD. One hundred and fourteen patients with NAFLD were recruited to the study in Ahvaz, Iran. The Metabolic SyndromeSeverity Score (MSSS) was used in an online calculator from available information. The NAFLD determined based on clinical or laboratory symptoms, and liver ultrasonography. The determination of its severity was made using liver elastography. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to correlate the collected parameters. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the cutoff value of fibrograde and steagrade that predicts fibrosis and steatosis. Totally, 69 patients (60.5%) had MetS. The chance of higher grade of steatosis in patients with MetS was 3.76 times higher than that of patients without MetS (p=0.003). Moreover, the correlation coefficient between MSSS and osteoscore was 0.274 (p=0.023). MSSS had the predictive power to detect steagrade (0:1, 2, 3) with 83.78% sensitivity and 59.38% specificity (p=0.005) and a cutoff point of 0.45. MSSS was shown to have the predictive power to detect steatosis grades. However, further studies are required to determine whether fibrosis has a relationship with severity of MetS.