PMID- 20880682 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20120604 LR - 20161125 IS - 1590-3729 (Electronic) IS - 0939-4753 (Linking) VI - 22 IP - 2 DP - 2012 Feb TI - Relationship between fatty liver and glucose metabolism: a cross-sectional study in 571 obese children. PG - 120-6 LID - 10.1016/j.numecd.2010.05.003 [doi] AB - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Early onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with obesity, insulin resistance and impaired beta-cell function. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may be an independent risk factor for T2DM. We investigated the relationship between NAFLD and glucose metabolism in a large sample of obese children. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 571 obese children (57% males and 43% females) aged 8-18 years were consecutively studied at a tertiary care centre specialised in paediatric obesity. Liver ultrasonography was used to diagnose NAFLD after exclusion of hepatitis B and C and alcohol consumption. Oral-glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) was performed; insulin sensitivity was evaluated by using the insulin sensitivity index (ISI) and beta-cell function by using the ratio between the incremental areas under the curve (AUC) of insulin and glucose (incAUCins/incAUCglu). A total of 41% of the obese children had NAFLD. Impaired glucose tolerance or T2DM was present in 25% of the children with NAFLD versus 8% of those without it (p<0.001). Children with NAFLD had higher body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose, 120-min OGTT glucose, incAUCins/incAUCglu and lower ISI as compared with children without NAFLD (p