Background: Possible substitutes for liver biopsies in this setting include noninvasive biomarkers of the liver and repeatable surrogate regular laboratory tests. The study aimed to determine whether ferritin, on its own or in conjunction with other common biochemical markers, might be a helpful diagnostic tool for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 patients aged from 18 to 70 years old, with metabolic syndrome. Patients were divided into three groups in accordance with serum ferritin levels: T1: between 6.00 and 67.00 (ng/ml). T2: between 68.00 and 177.00 (ng/ml). T3: between178.00 and 560.00 (ng/ml)
Results: There was a significant difference among groups in liver function tests. GGT levels also increased significantly from T1 to T2 and T2 to T3. There was no statistically significant difference between these two groups for F1 degree, whereas both show significant differences when compared to T3. There was a negative correlation between serum ferritin and BMI, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and glucose levels, and significant positive correlations was noted with liver enzymes: ALT, AST, and particularly GGT.
Conclusions: Serum ferritin may serve as a non-invasive diagnostic for evaluating different stages of NAFLD. The majority of individuals with NAFLD have increased levels of serum ferritin. However, the degree of elevation is not indicative of the severity of the underlying liver disease.