New research looks at the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in pediatric patients.
The study of 660 pediatric patients, which is part of the ongoing TARGET-NASH cohort, shows that the rate of liver disease increases after evaluation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT).
The results show that patients from 2 years of age develop NAFLD, often together with obesity. In the analysis, the researchers used ALT as a marker of NAFLD severity.
In an interview with HCPLive®, Miriam Vos, MD, MSPH, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, and physician at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, said the most surprising portion of the study was the group of patients greater than 250 U/L ALT had an eightfold greater risk of developing cirrhosis.
Fortunately, cirrhosis rates are generally low in pediatric patients with NAFLD.
“To know that those kids are much more likely to have these very high ALTs, I think it’s helpful,” Vos said.
She said this information is informative in deciding when to do a liver biopsy and is useful for investigating the pathophysiology of the disease.
The data is part of the ongoing TARGET-NASH study, an observational study of participants with NAFLD and/or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in common clinical practice, and part of a series of Target studies targeting various diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease. and asthma.
Vos said she would like to see more research in the future on longitudinal biomarkers and non-invasive diagnostic tests for NAFLD to track changes in the pediatric form of the disease over time.
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