NAFLD is a chronic liver disease with a broad clinical spectrum. There has been a significant increase in the frequency of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), throughout the past periods. Thyroid hormones control all the metabolic pathways, acting on carbohydrates, protein and lipid metabolism. According to some studies, the prevalence of hypothyroidism is from 15.2 to 36.3% among patients with NAFLD, thus indicating that hypothyroidism is a common concomitant disease of NAFLD and may be related to the development of NAFLD.100 NAFLD cases and 50 age and sex matched healthy controls were enrolled for this study. Mean TSH level in NAFLD cases was 3.6 ± 1.5µIU/ml while in control group, it was 2.1± 0.95µIU/ml. Hypothyroidism is a risk factor for NAFLD. As hypothyroidism is a modifiable risk factor which can be treated with thyroid replacement therapy, thyroid hormone profiles must be tested as a part of initial clinical assessment in patients with NAFLD.

Keywords: NAFLD, hypothyroidism, euthyroidism.

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Dr Vibha Sushilendu

Senior Resident, Dept of Biochemistry, IGIMS, Patna