Abstract
Background The term “non-alcoholic fatty liver disease” (NAFLD) refers to a range of disorders caused by lipid
accumulation in the liver. High abdominal fat levels can cause adipocytes to become more lipolytic, releasing free
fatty acids into the portal venous system. In this study, we aimed to use the analysis of visceral fat, subcutaneous fat,
muscle mass, and liver volume to evaluate the severity of fatty liver in NAFLD.
Results This study enrolled 130 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The mean age of studied patients was
51.38 ± 11.11 years, ranging between 25 and 65 years. Of the studied patients, 60 (46.2%) patients were males and 70
(53.8%) were females. The mean body mass index was 41.23 ± 7.83 (kg/m2). Based on the radiological assessment of
those patients, patients with grade III fatty liver had significantly higher total fat volume, visceral fat volume, subcutaneous
fat volume, fat rate in the body, visceral fat volume rate, psoas muscle volume, and psoas muscle ratio in
comparison with those with grade I and grade II fatty liver. Liver enzymes significantly correlated with total fat volume,
visceral fat volume rate, psoas muscle volume, psoas muscle ratio, and liver volume.
Conclusions The degree of fatty liver severity among patients with NAFLD was positively correlated with the amount
of subcutaneous, visceral fat, and muscle mass. Also, both liver transaminases had a significant positive correlation
with the amount of total and visceral fat, psoas muscle mass, and liver volume.
Keywords Non-alcoholic fatty liver, Visceral fat, Subcutaneous fat, Psoas muscle