According to the study of Journal of the American society of Nephrology(JASN) , the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) also known as type 2 diabetes may be risk factor for diabetes related chronic kidney disease (CKD),

Lead authors Dr. Giovanni Targher of University of Verona in Verona, Italy and Dr. Michael Chonchol of University of Colorado Health sciences Center in Denver, Colorado commented that identifying patients with NAFLD would highlight the subgroup of type 2 diabetic individuals and they could be targeted for more intensive therapy to decrease risk of CKD.

The studies conducted on 1,760 Italian adult patients shows that Type 2 diabetes has NAFLD and CKD in common. NAFLD, the most common type of chronic liver disease caused by deposition of fats in the liver may lead to serious liver condition or even cirrhosis. This study does not include patients with fatty liver disease caused by common causes such as alcohol abuse, chronic viral hepatitis and some medications affecting the liver.

Studies revealed that 547 patients have developed CKD within period of six and half years averaging yearly risks of 4.5 percent.

The study shows the risk of developing CKD is 69 percent higher in patients with NAFLD compared to patients without NAFLD. The percentage remained unchanged after taking into account various risk factors such as age and sex, body fatness, duration of diabetes, glycemic control, hypertension, smoking and medication for hypertension, diabetes or dyslipidemia.

The study shows that there is greater relationship between the NAFLD and CKD disease besides sharing the common risk factor such as obesity. According to Drs. Targher and Chonchol the NAFLD might develop into CKD in type 2 diabetes through the release of some pathogenic factors from the liver. Fatty liver might releases certain substances promoting inflammation resulting to kidney damage.

Diabetic Nephropathy, a term given to complicated form of diabetes that can lead to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). ESRD is a permanent loss of the kidney function requiring dialysis or transplantation. Drs Targher and Chonchol commented that early diagnosis and treatment of nephropathy could become very effective in reducing the chances of ESRD in CKD patients.

The authors also highlighted that the study conducted had limitations such as the use of an estimated measure of kidney function and the diagnosis of NAFLD using liver ultrasound without confirmatory biopsy. More study is required to understand if fatty live increases the risk of CKD in the patients without diabetes and in the non-white population.

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