Uric acid better marker of fatty liver disease than MetS in obese youth: Study
Italy: High serum uric acid (HUA) is a useful marker of fatty liver disease (FLD) in overweight/obese youths, a recent study has concluded. This is due to the greater ability of HUA to identify those at increased risk of the disease compared to metabolic syndrome (MetS). The study appears in Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews.
The study was conducted by Melania Manco, Children's Hospital Bambino Gesù, IRCCS, Rome, Italy, and colleagues with the objective to compare the association of high serum uric acid or metabolic syndrome with fatty liver disease in youths with overweight/obesity (OW/OB).
For this purpose, the researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of anthropometrics, biochemical variables, and liver ultrasound of 3104 patients with OW/OB aged 5-17 years. MetS were defined by ≥3 criteria 1) high waist circumference; 2) high triglycerides; 3) low high-density lipoproteins; 4) fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL; 5) blood pressure ≥95th percentile in children, and ≥130/80 mmHg in adolescents. HUA was defined as serum UA value ≥ 75th percentile adjusted for sex. Echography was determined using FLD.
Based on the study, the researchers reported the following findings:
- The sample was stratified into four categories: 1) no HUA, no MetS (reference category); 2) MetS; 3) HUA; 4) HUA and MetS (HUA+MetS).
- The prevalence of FLD increased across the four categories from 29.9%, 44.0%, 52.2% to 67.1%, respectively.
- The ORs for the categorical variables were 1.33 for MetS, 3.19 for HUA, and 3.72 for HUA+MetS, vs. the reference category regardless of the body mass index.
"Given its greater ability to identify those at increased risk of the disease compared to MetS, HUA represents a useful marker of FLD in youths with OW/OB," the researchers wrote. "There is a need to investigate the ability of both to predict incident FLD in a longitudinal study."
Reference:
Di Bonito, Procolo, et al. "Uric Acid Versus Metabolic Syndrome as Markers of Fatty Liver Disease in Young People With Overweight/obesity." Diabetes/metabolism Research and Reviews, 2022, pp. e3559.
