Gulali Aktas*, Tuba Taslamacioglu Duman, Özge Kurtkulagi, Burcin Meryem Atak Tel, Satilmis Bilgin, Gizem Kahveci, Aslı Oku and Mehmet Ali Kosekli
Background: Hemogram derived inflammatory markers are being studied in various inflammatory conditions. Liver steatosis is also an inflammatory process, therefore, we aimed to study platelet distribution width (PDW), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MoLR) in patients with hepatosteatosis and to compare to those in healthy subjects. Methods: Medical data of the patients with hepatosteatosis that diagnosed in outpatient clinics of our institution were obtained and they were enrolled to the study as study group. Heathy volunteers were also enrolled to the study as control group. General characteristics and laboratory data, including PDW, NLR, MoLR and PLR, of the study and control groups were compared. Results: Both PDW (p<0.001), NLR (p=0.01), and MoLR (p=0.02) of the study group was significantly higher than those of the control group. However, PLR of the NAFLD (112, 52%) group was not statistically different from the PLR of the control (110, 39%) subjects (p=0.42). PDW was significantly and positively correlated with fasting blood glucose (r=0.244, p=0.001) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels (r=0.241, p=0.001). NLR was also significantly and positively correlated with ALT (r=0.18, p=0.01). PDW values higher than 16.25% have 83% sensitivity and 57% specificity in predicting liver steatosis. Conclusion: We suggest that elevated PDW, NLR and MoLR levels should alert physician for liver steatosis in an otherwise healthy subjects and should prompt evaluation of liver tests and imaging studies. Since PDW has high sensitivity and specificity in prediction of liver steatosis, it may be useful in the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis in primary care setting.
