Arefhosseini Sara, Pouretedal Zohre, Tutunchi Helda, Ebrahimi-Mameghani Mehrangiz
Student Research Committee, Faculty of Nutrition & Food Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz.
Microbiology and Biology Group, Food Technology and Agricultural Products Research Center, Standard Research Institute, Karaj.
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022 Apr 1;34(4):443-448. doi: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000002325.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) characterized by excessive intrahepatic fat accumulation is increasing worldwide. This study aimed to investigate serum copper (Cu) and ceruloplasmin (Cer) levels and their relations to metabolic factors in NAFLD.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on 141 subjects with NAFLD diagnosed using abdominal ultrasonography. Personal information, anthropometric measures, glucose and lipid profile, and serum levels of liver enzymes were assessed. Fasting serum levels of Cu and Cer were determined using colorimetry and nephelometry assay, respectively. Odds ratios (ORs) were used to examine the associations of serum Cu and Cer levels with NAFLD risk.
The results on 85 patients with NAFLD and 56 apparently healthy participants showed that all NAFLD cases and 53.6% of the healthy subjects were overweight or obese. More than half of the patients (58.8%) showed mild NAFLD. Age, weight, BMI, lipid profile, uric acid, and ferritin were significantly higher in NAFLD patients than the healthy cases. No significant differences were found in the concentrations of Cu and Cer between the groups. Only 7.4% of the healthy subjects and 2.4% of the patients were Cu deficient (<70 µg/dl). No association was found between the risk of NAFLD and serum Cu [OR: 0.994; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.981-1.006] and Cer levels (OR: 0.414; 95% CI: 0.001-123.604) after adjusting for the confounders.
Our findings revealed no association between Cu deficiency and NAFLD risk. Further human studies with larger sample sizes are required to investigate how Cu and Cer status may affect NAFLD.
以肝内脂肪过度蓄积为特征的非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）在全球范围内呈上升趋势。本研究旨在调查血清铜（Cu）和铜蓝蛋白（Cer）水平及其与NAFLD代谢因素的关系。
本横断面研究对141例经腹部超声诊断为NAFLD的受试者进行。评估个人信息、人体测量指标、血糖和血脂谱以及肝酶血清水平。分别采用比色法和散射比浊法测定空腹血清Cu和Cer水平。采用比值比（OR）来检验血清Cu和Cer水平与NAFLD风险的关联。
对85例NAFLD患者和56例明显健康参与者的研究结果显示，所有NAFLD病例和53.6%的健康受试者超重或肥胖。超过一半的患者（58.8%）表现为轻度NAFLD。NAFLD患者的年龄、体重、BMI、血脂谱、尿酸和铁蛋白显著高于健康病例。两组之间Cu和Cer的浓度无显著差异。只有7.4%的健康受试者和2.4%的患者铜缺乏（<70μg/dl）。在调整混杂因素后，未发现NAFLD风险与血清Cu[OR：0.994；95%置信区间（CI）：0.981 - 1.006]和Cer水平（OR：0.414；95%CI：0.001 - 123.604）之间存在关联。
我们的研究结果显示铜缺乏与NAFLD风险之间无关联。需要进一步进行更大样本量的人体研究来调查Cu和Cer状态如何影响NAFLD。
