Table 1.
Main characteristics and outcomes of selected clinical observational studies evaluating circulating TNF-α concentrations in patients with NAFLD.*, a
| First author (year), origin [reference] | Study type | Population (n) | NAFLD definition | Method of TNF-α measurement | Main findings on circulating TNF-α | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loguercio (2004), Italy [44] | Case–control |
NAFL (61) NASH (237) NAFLD-cirrhosis (7) |
Biopsy | ELISA | ↔ | - |
| Wong (2006), China [46] | Case–control |
NAFL (28) NASH (52) Controls (41) |
Biopsy | ELISA |
NAFLD vs. controls ( ↔) NASH (↑) vs. NAFL |
- |
| Kashyap (2009), USA [45] | Cross-sectional |
NAFL (33) NASH (66) Controls (43) |
Biopsy | ELISA | ↔ | Morbidly obese subjected to bariatric surgery |
| Koehler (2012), USA [48] | Case–control |
NAFL (72) NASH + F 0–1 (60) NASH + F ≥ 2 (12) Controls (16) |
Biopsy | ELISA | ↔ | Morbidly obese subjected to bariatric surgery |
| Seo (2013), South Korea [52] | Cohort | Apparently healthy individuals (non-NAFLD) at baseline (363) | US | ELISA | Higher baseline serum TNF-α was associated with increased risk of NAFLD (odds ratio: 2.20; 95%CI: 1.12–4.01) | 106 participants developed NAFLD after 4 years of follow-up |
| Abdel-Razik (2016), Egypt [47] | Case–control |
NAFL (753) NASH (120) Controls (150) |
Biopsy | ELISA |
NAFL (↑) vs. controls NASH (↑) vs. NAFL |
Liver biopsy was performed in controls during cholecystectomy |
| Kapil (2016), India [43] | Case–control |
NAFLD (60) CVH (32) Controls (50) |
Biopsy | ELISA |
NAFLD (↑) vs. controls NAFLD (↑) vs. CVH |
- |
| Ajmera (2017), USA [49] | Cross-sectional |
NAFL (143) Borderline NASH (129) Definite NASH (376) |
Biopsy | ELISA |
NAFL/borderline NASH vs definite NASH ( ↔) NAFLD + F0-1 (↓) vs NAFLD + F ≥ 2 |
- |
| Chellali (2019), Algeria [41] | Cross-sectional |
T2DM (102) NAFLD (74) NAFLD + T2DM (54) Controls (90) |
Biopsy | ELISA |
NAFLD (↑) vs. controls NAFLD + T2DM (↑) vs. controls T2DM vs. controls ( ↔) |
- |
| Federico (2019), Italy [42] | Baseline data from an interventional study |
NAFLD (90) Controls (60) |
Biopsy | ELISA | NAFLD (↑) vs. controls | Patients with GERD served as controls |
↑, increase; ↓, decrease; ↔ , no difference between groups
CVH chronic viral hepatitis, F fibrosis, GERD gastroesophageal reflux disease, NAFLD nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFL nonalcoholic fatty liver, NASH nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, T2DM type 2 diabetes mellitus, TNF-α tumor necrosis factor-α, USA United States of America, US ultrasound, vs. versus
*Data were derived from clinical observational studies with sample size of larger than 100 participants
aReferences are sorted according to the year of publication (primarily) and the surname of the first author (secondarily)