THE CORRELATION OF NECK CIRCUMFERENCE AND INSULIN RESISTANCE IN NAFLD PATIENTS.

Background: Insulin resistance, especially that induced by obesity, plays a central role in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Although the evaluation of overweight patients is important, the nutritional assessment tools used in clinical practice have limitations. Neck circumference (NC), from this, becomes a viable and low-cost alternative, which seems to be related to the accumulation of fat in the hepatic tissue.

Objective: To evaluate the association between NC and metabolic alterations in patients with non- alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Methods: A cross-sectional study performed in 82 patients, of whom 76 underwent liver biopsy. We performed weight, height, abdominal circumference and NC measures. Values of NC ≥42 cm and ≥36 cm were considered as altered for men and women, respectively. Laboratory tests and liver biopsy result were collected in the participants' charts. We evaluated fasting blood glucose levels, insulin, glycosylated hemoglobin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein (LDL-C), ferritin, alkaline phosphatase, gamma glutamyltransferase, albumin, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and the HOMA-IR index.

Results: We evaluated eighty-two patients. Patients with altered NC had increased body mass index (P=0.043), abdominal circumference (P=0.007), insulin (P=0.003) and HOMA-IR (P=0.029) when compared to those with adequate NC. NC was significantly correlated with reduced levels of high-density cholesterol (HDL-C) in men (r= -042, P<0.05), increased insulin levels in men and female (rs=0.47; P<0.05 and rs=0.51; P<0.01, respectively), as well as higher HOMA-IR index both males (rs=0.49; P<0.01) and female (rs=0.30; P<0.05). There was no significant association between NC and liver outcomes (r=0.145; P=0.36).

Conclusion: NC is associated with the HOMA-IR index in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. NC can be used in the screening of insulin resistance in these patients, considering that insulin resistance plays a key role in the progression of the disease.