The Association of Hepatic Fat Percentage With Selected Anthropometric And Biochemical Parameters At 3 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This relatively comprehensive and multi-parametric study was conducted to investigate any association between hepatic fat percentage (HFP) values measured using high-field MRI, anthropometric and biochemical measurements in a group of disease-free adults.

METHODS: Abdominal MRI, anthropometric and biochemical measurements were determined in 167 healthy subjects. HFP values were derived from the MRI, whilst routine lipids, leptin, resistin, IL6 and adiponectin were measured by routine methods.

RESULTS: 80% of the calculated HFP values were in the normal range of hepatic fat accumulation. A significant strong positive correlation was found between HFP and waist circumference (measured by tape). Moderate positive correlation was found between HFP and body mass index, leptin, resistin, triglycerides, waist circumference (measured by MRI), and hip circumference. Furthermore, weak positive correlation was seen between HFP and age, cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein. On the contrary, a significant moderate inverse correlation was detected between HFP and adiponectin.

CONCLUSIONS: The multi-parametric approach of MRI, biochemical and anthropometric measurements could be adopted to identify subjects at risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease at early stage.