Prevalence of microvascular complications in patients with NAFLD

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver disorder that is strongly associated with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Objective: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of NAFLD among T2DM patients and to evaluate whether there is an association between NAFLD and diabetic microvascular complications. Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study conducted during one year from January 2018 to December 2018. A total of 107 type 2 diabetes patients were submitted to clinical and laboratory evaluation and abdominal ultrasonography for NAFLD detection. Statistical analysis such as the chi-square test, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used in this study. Results: Out of 107 type 2 diabetic patients, 54.2% patients had NAFLD whereas 45.8% had no fatty liver on ultrasonography. NAFLD group had a significantly higher prevalence of retinopathy (41.4% versus 20.4%, P-value 0.02), neuropathy (58.6% versus 14.3%, P-value <0.001), and nephropathy (67.2% versus 49.0%, P-value <0.05). Moreover, after logistic regression was done, diabetes patients with NAFLD had 8.88 times the risk of neuropathy than those without NAFLD (OR= 8.88 95% CI: 2.95-26.74, P-value <0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of NAFLD is higher in type 2 diabetes patients. This study also reported the prevalence of microvascular complications was higher in patients with NAFLD. Therefore, ultrasound examination of the liver for NAFLD can be used as an early marker of diabetes and its complications.