Page 294 - SAHCS HIVMed Journal Vol 20 No 1 2019

Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine
ISSN: (Online) 2078-6751, (Print) 1608-9693
Page 1 of 6 Original Research

Associations of visceral fat thickness and

anthropometric measurements with non-alcoholic

fatty liver disease development in male patients

mono-infected with human immunodeficiency virus

Authors: Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the most common form of
Miloš Vujanović 1 chronic liver disease in mono-infected (without concomitant hepatitis B and/or C virus infection)
Nina Brkić-Jovanović people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The proper and on time identification
2
Dalibor Ilić 3
Zorka Drvendžija 2 of at-risk HIV-positive individuals would be relevant in order to reduce the rate of progression
Biljana Srdić-Galić 2 from NAFLD into non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Vesna Turkulov
1,2
Snežana Brkić Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore visceral fat thickness (VFT) and anthropometric
1,2
Daniela Marić
1,2
measurements associated with the development of NAFLD in patients mono-infected with
Affiliations: HIV and on long-standing combination antiretroviral therapy (cART).
1 Clinical Centre of Vojvodina,
Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Method: Eighty-eight (n = 88) HIV-positive male patients, average age 39.94 ± 9.91 years, and
Novi Sad, Serbia
stable on cART, were included in this prospective study. VFT was measured using
2 Faculty of Medicine, ultrasonography. Anthropometric measurements included body mass index (BMI), waist-to-
University of Novi Sad, hip ratio (W/H), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist and hip circumference (WC, HC).
Novi Sad, Serbia Differences between variables were determined using the chi-square test. The receiver operating
characteristic (ROC) curve and the Youden index were used to determine optimal cut-off values
3 Centre for Radiology, Clinical of VFT and hepatic steatosis. The area under the curve (AUC), 95% confidence intervals,
Centre of Vojvodina, sensitivity and specificity are reported for the complete sample. Significance was set at p < 0.05.
Novi Sad, Serbia
Corresponding author: Results: Patients with steatosis had significantly higher values of BMI, HC, WC, W/H and
Miloš Vujanović, WHtR. The VFT was higher in patients with steatosis (p < 0.001). Specifically, VFT values above
[email protected] 31.98 mm and age > 38.5 years correlated with steatosis in HIV-positive patients, namely
sensitivity 89%, specificity 72%, AUC 0.84 (95% CI, 0.76–0.93, p < 0.001), with the highest Youden
Dates:
Received: 19 Mar. 2019 index = 0.61. The sensitivity of the age determinant above this cut-off point was 84%, specificity
Accepted: 27 May 2019 73% and AUC 0.83 (95% CI, 0.75–0.92, p < 0.001), with the highest Youden index of 0.57.
Published: 07 Aug. 2019
Conclusion: In the absence of more advanced radiographic and histological tools, simple
How to cite this article:
Vujanović M, Brkić- anthropometric measurements and VFT could assist in the early identification of persons at
Jovanović N, Ilić D, et al. risk of hepatic steatosis in low- and middle-income regions.
Associations of visceral fat
thickness and anthropometric Keywords: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; HIV mono-infection; Hepatic steatosis;
measurements with Ultrasonography; Anthropometric measurements.
non-alcoholic fatty liver
disease development in male
patients mono-infected with
human immunodeficiency Introduction
virus. S Afr J HIV Med.
2019;20(1), a968. https://doi. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the most common chronic liver condition of
org/10.4102/sajhivmed. developed countries. It is particularly associated with cardiovascular disease, obesity,
1
v20i1.968 hyperlipidaemia, hypertension and elevated blood glucose. Approximately 34% of people in
2
developed countries have NAFLD. Prevalence rates are even higher among type 2 diabetics (55%)
and the obese (75%). In the past, this condition was thought to be of little clinical importance.
3
4
However, it is now known that many (20%) will develop non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
and that one in four of the latter will develop cirrhosis. 5
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Copyright: © 2019. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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