Hepatic Steatosis detected by Hepatorenal Index in Ultrasonography as a Predictor of Insulin Resistance in Obese Subjects

• Published in: BMC Obesity
• Main Authors: Isaksen, Victoria Therese, Larsen, Maria Arlen, Goll, Rasmus, Florholmen, Jon, Paulssen, Eyvind Jakob
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central 2016
• Subjects: VDP::Medisinske fag: 700::Klinisk medisinske fag: 750::Gasteroenterologi: 773; VDP::Midical sciences: 700::Clinical medical sciences: 750::Gastroenterology: 773; VDP::Medisinske fag: 700; VDP::Midical sciences: 700; Body mass index; Hepatorenal index; HOMA1-IR; Insulin resistance; Liver steatosis; Metabolic syndrome; Morbid obesity; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Quantification; Ultrasonography; Norway; Tromsø; North Norway
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/10693; https://doi.org/10.1186/s40608-016-0118-0

© 2016 The Author(s). Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. BACKGROUND: The metabolic syndrome is a worldwide health issue, with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (liver steatosis) being one of its features, particularly closely related to insulin resistance. This study aims to investigate whether quantification of hepatic steatosis by abdominal ultrasonography, using hepatorenal index, is a feasible tool for the prediction of insulin resistance, and thus the metabolic syndrome. METHODS: Patients were recruited from the Centre of Obesity at the University Hospital of North Norway, and among participants from the Sixth Tromsø Study. Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA1-IR) was measured, body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2)) calculated, and hepatorenal index (HRI), i.e. the ratio of liver to kidney optical densities, was measured by transabdominal ultrasonography. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were performed, detecting insulin resistance at HOMA1-IR cut-off values >2.3 and >2.5. RESULTS: Ninety participants were included in the study, of which 46 (51 %) had BMI ≥30 and 27 (30 %) had BMI ≥35. Overall, HRI at level 1.17 had sensitivity 0.90 and specificity 0.70 for predicting insulin resistance (HOMA1-IR >2.3) in all participants. For participants with BMI ≥30, HRI at level 1.17 had sensitivity 0.94 and specificity 0.70, and for BMI ≥35, HRI at level 1.17 had sensitivity 0.93 and specificity 0.75 for predicting HOMA1-IR >2.3. ...