Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Oct-Nov;54(79):2099-102.

Risk factors associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Chinese patients and the role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha

Chi-Jen Chu  1 , Rei-Hwa Lu, Sun-Sang Wang, Full-Young Chang, Shwu-Ling Wu, Chia-Ling Lu, Bie-Chin Chun, Chiao-Yu Chang, Min-Yu Wu, Shou-Dong Lee
Affiliations
  • PMID: 18251167

Risk factors associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Chinese patients and the role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha

Chi-Jen Chu et al. Hepatogastroenterology. 2007 Oct-Nov.

Abstract

Background/aims: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) has been reported to be associated with insulin resistance and induce inflammatory cytokines formation. Previous studies in human and animals showed inhibition of TNF-alpha improved severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aims of this study were to measure plasma levels of TNFalpha in NAFLD and healthy subjects and investigate potential risk factors.

Methodology: A total of 144 patients (90 NAFLD, 50 controls) were enrolled. Clinical and laboratory data of each patient were collected. Plasma levels of TNF-alpha were measured with a commercially available solid phase sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (R&D systems, USA). The lower detection limit of this assay was 0.12 pg/mL.

Results: Multivariate analyses showed elevated triglyceride (odds ratio: 7.30, p<0.001) and BMI >25 kg/m2 (odds ratio: 3.57, p<0.005) were the two factors associated with NAFLD. Mean plasma level of TNF-alpha was significantly higher in NAFLD patients with abnormal ALT than controls (2.63+/-0.44 pg/mL vs. 1.56+/-0.10 pg/mL, p=0.016). Modest correlations were noted between plasma levels of TNF-alpha with ALT (r=0.25, p<0.005) and triglyceride (r=0.40, p<0.001).

Conclusions: TNF-alpha may participate in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Inhibition of TNF-alpha activity by drugs or antibodies may be a potential approach to treat NAFLD patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources