Table 1.
Diseases: description and diagnostic criteria.
| Disease | Description | Diagnosis | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metabolic Syndrome (MS) | Complex disorder represented by a set of cardiovascular risk factors, usually related to central fat deposition and IR | Abdominal obesity, defined by increased waist circumference (≥90 cm in men and ≥80 cm in women) and two or more of the following characteristics: blood pressure (≥130/85 mm/Hg), high levels of fasting glucose (≥100 mg/dL) or triglycerides (≥150 mg/dL) or low levels of HDL cholesterol (<40 mg/dL in men, <50 mg/dL in women) | [5–8] |
| Diabetes | Heterogeneous group of metabolic disorders that have in common the hyperglycemia, which is defective in insulin action, insulin secretion, or both | World Health Organization (WHO) criteria: fasting plasma glucose (FPG) ≥7.0 mmol/L (126 mg/dL) or 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with FPG ≥ 7.0 mmol/L (126 mg/dL) and/or 2 h plasma glucose ≥ 11.1 mmol/L (200 mg/dL) or, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥6.5% /48 mmol/mol, or Random plasma glucose ≥11.1 mmol/L (200 mg/dL) in the presence of classical diabetes symptoms. | [5,6,8,9] |
| Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) | Encompasses the entire spectra of fatty liver diseases in individuals without significant alcohol consumption, ranging from fatty liver to steatohepatitis and cirrhosis | (a) presence of hepatic steatosis by imaging or histology; (b) no significant alcohol consumption; (c) no competing etiologies for hepatic steatosis; and (d) no co-existing causes for chronic liver disease. | [5,7,10] |
| Hepatic Steatosis (HS) | Presence of hepatic steatosis with no evidence of hepatocellular injury in the form of ballooning of the hepatocytes or no evidence of fibrosis | Liver biopsy with histological analysis | [5] |
| Nonalcoholic Steatohepatiti s (NASH) | Presence of hepatic steatosis and inflammation with hepatocyte injury (ballooning) with or without fibrosis | Liver biopsy with histological analysis NAFLD Fibrosis Score * | [5] |
| Hepatic Cirrhosis | Presence of cirrhosis with no obvious etiology. Patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis are heavily enriched with metabolic risk factors such as obesity and metabolic syndrome | Liver biopsy with histological analysis NAFLD Fibrosis Score * | [5] |
*
Clinically useful tools for identifying NAFLD patients with higher likelihood of having bridging fibrosis and/or cirrhosis. NAFLD Fibrosis Score is based on six readily available variables (age, BMI, hyperglycemia, platelet count, albumin, AST/ALT ratio) and is calculated using the published formula (http://nafldscore.com) [5].