Abstract
Nonalcoholic hepatic steatosis associates with a clustering of metabolic risk factors and steatohepatitis. One risk factor for hepatic steatosis is obesity, but other factors likely play a role. We examined metabolic concomitants of hepatic steatosis in nonobese and obese men and women. Sixty-one obese women and 35 obese men were studied; both those with and without hepatic steatosis were compared against each other and against nonobese controls (17 women and 32 men) without hepatic steatosis. Obesity (defined as S25% body fat in men and ≤35% in women), was identified by x-ray absorptiometry , whereas hepatic steatosis (≤5.5% liver fat) was detected by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The primary endpoint was a difference in insulin sensitivity. Obese groups with and without steatosis had similar body fat percentages. Compared with obese women without hepatic steatosis, those with steatosis were more insulin resistant; the same was true for men, although differences were less striking. Obese subjects with hepatic steatosis had higher ratios of truncal-to-lower body fat and other indicators of adipose tissue dysfunction compared with obese subjects without steatosis. Conclusion: These results support the concept that obesity predisposes to hepatic steatosis; but in addition, insulin resistance beyond that induced by obesity alone and a relatively high ratio of truncal-to-lower body fat usually combined with obesity to produce an elevated liver fat content.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 716-722 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Hepatology |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2007 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Hepatology