Abstract
Background: Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is a pathologic condition with insidious course that varies from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis (NASH) with potential progression to cirrhosis. NAFLD is associated with metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes mellitus and insulin resistance. Omentin-1 is an adipokine which possesses anti-inflammatory effects; the role of omentin-1 in NAFLD is scarcely investi-gated.
Aim of Study: Our study aimed to evaluate serum omentin-1 levels in women with NAFLD and to assess its relation to the severity of NAFLD and risk factors for cardiovascular morbidities among Egyptian women.
Subjects and Methods: Case control study enrolled 55 women biopsy-proven NAFLD and forty healthy volunteers as a control group. NAFLD patients were divided into three groups; simple steatosis (n=30), NASH (n=15), and cirrhosis (n=10). Serum omentin-1 levels were measured using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).
Results: Our results revealed that, NAFLD patients had lower values of serum omentin-1 when compared to controls. Among NAFLD patients, patients with cirrhosis had the lowest values of serum omentin-1. We detected significant negative correlations between serum omentin-1 levels and cardiomet-abolic parameters, obesity indices and liver function among patients with NAFLD.
Conclusion: Women with NAFLD had lower values of serum omentin-1 than control group; moreover, among NAFLD groups, the lowest values were observed in patients with cirrhosis. The diagnostic power of serum levels of omentin-1 was highly significant thus; it could represent a promising noninvasive diagnostic biomarker of NAFLD.