Risk Factors of Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis in Childhood Obesity.
- Author:
Eun Sil YUN
1
;
Yong Hun PARK
;
Kwang Hae CHOI
Author Information
1. Department of Pediatrics, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea. ckh@med.yu.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Obesity;
Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis;
Risk factor;
Triglyceride
- MeSH:
Adipose Tissue;
Alanine Transaminase;
Child;
Cholesterol;
Fatty Liver*;
Humans;
Hypertriglyceridemia;
Obesity;
Pediatric Obesity*;
Prevalence;
Risk Factors*;
Triglycerides
- From:Korean Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition
2007;10(2):179-184
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: Obesity has recently emerged as a significant health problem in the pediatric population, and the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is increasing in tandem with a significant rise in childhood obesity. Therefore, this study was conducted to clarify the risk factors of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in obese children. METHODS: We enrolled 84 obese children who visited the pediatric obesity clinic at Yeung-Nam university hospital. The patients were divided into two groups based on their alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level (separated at 40 IU/L), and the mean of ages, total cholesterol levels, HDL-cholesterol levels, LDL-cholesterol levels, triglyceride (TG) levels, as well as the mean obesity index, and body fat percentage of the two groups were then compared. RESULTS: When the mean of ages (10.5+/-1.6 vs. 10.7+/-2.0 years), total cholesterol levels (183.0+/-29.1 vs. 183.7+/-31.3 mg/dL), HDL-cholesterol levels (53.0+/-10.2 vs. 55.7+/-13.0 mg/dL), LDL-cholesterol levels (113.4+/-30.2 vs. 113.0+/-30.0 mg/dL), triglyceride levels (99.4+/-62.9 vs. 114.2+/-47.3 mg/dL), obesity indexes (44.7+/-12.2 vs. 47.9+/-15.1%), and body fat percentages (32.7+/-5.0 vs. 34.0+/-4.8%) of group 1 (ALT< or =40 IU/L) were compared with those of group 2 (ALT> or =41 IU/L), no significant differences were observed (p>0.05). However, hypertriglyceridemia (TG> or =110 mg/dL) was more frequent in group 2 than in group 1 (p=0.023). CONCLUSION: TG may be an important risk factor in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and further study regarding the risk factors in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis is required.
