BACKGROUND: The conditions associated with fatty liver disease presenting with normal liver enzymes and the mechanism in its development remain to be fully investigated. AIMS: The aim of this work was to test the hypothesis that fatty liver with normal liver enzymes occurs most frequently in arterial hypertensive patients and to establish whether this is associated with insulin resistance. PATIENTS: Fifty five non-obese, non-diabetic, non-alcoholic patients with arterial hypertensive and normal liver enzymes and 55 sex and age matched healthy subjects (control roup) were enrolled into the study. METHODS: Plasma metabolic parameters, body mnss index, and the presence of fatty liver were investigated. Insulin resistance was estimated from plasma insulin and glucose. Stepwise logistic egression and multivariate regression analysis were used on the combined sample to identify variables independently associated with fatty liver and insulin resistance. |
