Frequency of Fatty Liver and Some of Its Risk Factors in Asymptomatic Carriers of HBV Attending the Tehran Blood Transfusion Organization Hepatitis Clinic

Liver steatosis causes progression in liver damage and accelerates liver fibrosis. There is lack of data in Iran regarding the prevalence and risk factors of fatty liver in carriers of HBV. The current study was performed to assess the prevalence and risk factors of fatty liver in carriers of HBV in Iran. This study was conducted between 1995 and 2006, as a cross sectional study, on 1120 asymptomatic HBV carriers, selected from the hepatitis clinic of the Tehran Blood Transfusion Organization. Age, sex, marital status and paraclinacal data including CBC, LFT, PT, lipid profile, FBS, and alcohol consumption were recorded using a checklist. Fatty liver, found in 106 subjects, showed a significant correlation with sex (p=0.001), job (p=0.01), cigarette smoking (p=0.009), and previous history of liver disease (p=0.007) liver disease also had a significant correlation with Hg levels (p=0.001), AST (p=0.001), ALT (p=0.001), total bilirubin (p=0.004), direct bilirubin (p=0.032), and TG (p=0.002). FBS and total cholesterol levels were not significantly correlated with fatty liver (p>0.05). Fatty liver is seen in 10% of asymptomatic HBV carriers considering the negative impact of fatty liver on liver damage, it is essential to screen HBV carriers for the presence of fatty liver. Male, smokers, and those with disturbances in lipid profile are at a higher risk.