Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep-Oct;14(5):825-827.
doi: 10.1016/j.dsx.2020.06.013. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Metabolic dysfunction associated fatty liver disease increases risk of severe Covid-19

Praveen Sharma  1 , Ashish Kumar  2
Affiliations

Metabolic dysfunction associated fatty liver disease increases risk of severe Covid-19

Praveen Sharma et al. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2020 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Background and aims: Liver involvement is common in COVID-19. Elevated aspartate and alanine amino transaminase (AST/ALT) and borderline increase in serum bilirubin and serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) are the commonest findings. Patients with associated co morbid conditions like obesity, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, malignancy, hypertension and old age are prone to develop severe disease. Limited data is available in patients with COVID-19 and metabolic dysfunction associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD).The aim of this review is to analyse the effect of MAFLD on severity of COVID-19.

Methods: We systematically searched the PubMed database till May 20, 2020 and retrieved all the articles published on COVID-19 and fatty liver/MAFLD/NAFLD.

Results: Limited studies done had shown four to six fold high risk of severe COVID-19 in patients with MAFLD. Patients with MAFLD and associated obesity, severe fibrosis and age <60 yrs are more prone to develop severe COVID-19.

Conclusion: MAFLD is associated with 4-6 fold increase in severity of COVID-19 compared to non MAFLD patients. Physician and hepatologist should follow these patients cautiously and preventive measures to be taken strictly in these high risk patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest None.

References

    1. Lu R., Zhao X., Li J., Niu P. Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding. Lancet. 2020;395:565–574. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guan W.J., Ni Z.Y., Hu Y. Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med. 2020;30(18):1708–1720. 382. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Xu X.-W., Wu X.-X., Jiang X.-G. Clinical findings in a group of patients infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) outside of Wuhan, China: retrospective case series. BMJ. 2020 Feb 19:368. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang D., Hu B., Hu C. Clinical characteristics of 138 hospitalized patients with 2019 novel coronavirus–infected pneumonia in Wuhan, China. J Am Med Assoc. 2020;323(11):1061–1069. 7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fan Z., Chen L., Li J. Clinical features of COVID-19-related liver damage. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020;18(7):1561–1566. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms