title: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in asymptomatic Brazilian adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among asymptomatic Brazilian adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Transversal observational study included asymptomatic adolescents with central obesity from private and public schools in Salvador-Bahia, northeastern Brazil. The children answered a questionnaire that included age, gender, race, and medical history, and were submitted to a complete physical exam and abdominal ultrasound. Biochemical exams included: ALT, AST, GGT, C reactive protein (CRP), fasting glucose, insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides. Criteria for NAFLD included: the presence of steatosis in ultrasound and/or high level of ALT, negative or occasional historic of intake of alcohol (<or= 140 g/wk), negative investigation for hepatitis A, B, C, auto-immune hepatitis, Wilson disease and hemochromatosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From October, 2005 to October, 2006, the study included 1801 subjects between 11 and 18 years of age and a mean age of 13.7+/-2.0 years. One hundred ninety-nine had central obesity. The prevalence of NAFLD was 2.3%, most of whom were male and white. Insulin resistance (IR) was observed in 22.9% of them and had positive correlations with ALT and GGT (P<0.05). Elevated CRP was observed in 6.9% of the cases; however, it was not associated with WC, IR or liver enzymes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of NAFLD in Brazilian adolescents was low. The ethnicity may have influence this frequency in the population studied, which had a large proportion of African descendents.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Bahia, School of Medicine, Bahia 40110-150, Brazil. raquelrocha2@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: Helma Pinchemel
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Cotrim
authors.forename: Almir Galvão Vieira
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bitencourt
authors.forename: Daniel Batista Valente
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: Admeia Souza
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Alessandro de Moura
authors.initials: Ade M
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guimarães
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D000410:Alanine Transaminase