title: Waist circumference correlates with hepatic fat accumulation in male Japanese patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, but not in females.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Abdominal obesity, a component of metabolic syndrome, is a major risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In recent worldwide definitions of metabolic syndrome, waist measurement has been proposed as a simple and useful estimate of abdominal obesity, taking into account gender differences in waist circumference. The present cross-sectional study investigated the correlation of hepatic fat accumulation and waist circumference in Japanese NAFLD patients to determine if there are gender differences in this relationship.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive patients (n = 2111) who had at least one of two criteria for liver disease (alanine aminotransferase [ALT] level >30 IU/mL and aspartate aminotransferase [AST]/ALT ratio <1) underwent abdominal ultrasonography. Patients positive for hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus or autoimmune antibodies and whose alcohol intake was >20 g/day were excluded. Patients with NAFLD underwent abdominal computed tomography. Hepatic fat accumulation was estimated by liver/spleen attenuation ratio (L/S ratio) and visceral adipose accumulation was measured as visceral fat area (VFA) at the umbilical level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 221 NAFLD patients, 103 were females. In males, the relationship between L/S ratio and waist circumference was negative (r =-0.356, P < 0.01), and there was no correlation in the female group. The relationship between L/S ratio and VFA was negative in both groups (males: r = -0.269, P < 0.01; females: r = -0.319, P < 0.01). Subcutaneous fat area/total fat area ratio at the umbilical level was larger in females than in males (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In NAFLD patients, waist measurement is more susceptible to gender differences than VFA.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Saga Medical School, Saga, Japan.
authors: Eriko
authors: E
authors: Ishibashi
authors: Yuichiro
authors: Y
authors: Eguchi
authors: Takahisa
authors: T
authors: Eguchi
authors: Aki
authors: A
authors: Matsunobu
authors: Noriko
authors: N
authors: Oza
authors: Shunya
authors: S
authors: Nakashita
authors: Yoichiro
authors: Y
authors: Kitajima
authors: Shigetaka
authors: S
authors: Kuroki
authors: Iwata
authors: I
authors: Ozaki
authors: Yasunori
authors: Y
authors: Kawaguchi
authors: Yasushi
authors: Y
authors: Ide
authors: Tsutomu
authors: T
authors: Yasutake
authors: Ryuichi
authors: R
authors: Iwakiri
authors: Toshihiko
authors: T
authors: Mizuta
authors: Naofumi
authors: N
authors: Ono
authors: Kazuma
authors: K
authors: Fujimoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D007564:Japan; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011859:Radiography; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014463:Ultrasonography; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio