Predictive Factors of Steatosis and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis in Morbidly Obese Patients Undergoing Bariatric Surgery

Background and Objectives Obesity is one of the most health-threatening phenomena. It is estimated that over 1 billion adults have overweight or obesity. The current study aimed at presenting a detailed account of the findings that attempted to predict the severity of fatty liver disease and its sequelae, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, and cirrhosis, by correlating biopsy results with liver function tests and various metabolic markers of laboratory results in patients with morbid obesity. Methods A total of 111 subjects participated in the study. The collected data included pathology study of liver biopsy, fasting blood glucose (FBS), liver function test (LFT), and lipid profile. Results The correlation between fibrosis and steatosis was 0.493 (P = 0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) and correlation between fibrosis and NASH grade was 0.531 (P = 0.001, 95%CI). There was a significant relationship between aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and triglyceride (TG) with steatosis intensity and a significant positive relationship between AST, cholesterol, and FBS with NASH intensity. Conclusions Levels of serum AST and TG showed significant relationship with steatosis and fibrosis intensities; AST, FBS, and cholesterol had a significant correlation with NASH intensity. Cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels had an inverse monotonic relationship with fibrosis intensity.