ASSOCIATION OF FATTY LIVER WITH INCREASED RATIO OF VISCERAL TO SUBCUTANEOUS ADIPOSE-TISSUE IN OBESE MEN

We studied the association of fatty liver with subcutaneous and viscer al obesity in 46 male and 36 female patients with body mass index (BMI ) over 22kg/m(2). The correlation coefficient between the ratio of the visceral adipose tissue to the subcutaneous adipose tissue (V/S) and the computed tomography (CT) number of the liver was - 0.299 (P<0.05) and that between the V/S ratio and the ratio of the CT number of the l iver to that of the spleen (CT-L/CT-S) was - 0.335 (P<0.05) in the mal es. Partial correlation analysis after making correction for BMI showe d an increased correlation coefficient of - 0.485 (P<0.05) between the V/S ratio and the CT-L/CT-S ratio in the males. The odds ratio in the males for CT-L/CT-S below 1.0 and V/S above 1.0 was 3.25 with a 95% c onfidence interval of 1.02 to 9.39. No such association between the V/ S ratio and the CT-L/CT-S ratio was present in the female patients. Mu ltiple regression analysis with serum level of alanine aminotransferas e, a marker of fatty liver, as an independent variable revealed a part ial regression coefficient of - 17.7 for CT-L/CT-S (P<0.05) in the mal es and - 21.7 (P<0.05) in the females, validating the CT-L/CT-S ratio as an index of fatty liver. The results indicate the association of fa tty liver as determined by the CT-L/CT-S ratio with visceral obesity i n males.