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
. 2024 Jan 5;23(1):987-997.
doi: 10.1007/s40200-023-01375-2. eCollection 2024 Jun.

The effects of meal patterns on liver steatosis, fibrosis, and biochemical factors in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Mohammad Alizadeh  1 , Mohammadreza Mohammad Hosseiniazar  2 , Farkhondeh Alami  3 , Somayyeh Bararnia Adabi  3
Affiliations

The effects of meal patterns on liver steatosis, fibrosis, and biochemical factors in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Mohammad Alizadeh et al. J Diabetes Metab Disord. .

Abstract

Background: This study was designed to compare the effects of four meal patterns on liver steatosis, fibrosis, and biochemical factors in patients with Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods: The 12-week intervention was performed on 123 patients with NAFLD who were randomly allocated into four groups: "3-meals", "skipping breakfast", "skipping dinner", and " 3 meals and 3 snacks per day." group. The assessment of liver steatosis, fibrosis, biochemical factors, and anthropometrical evaluation were performed at baseline and at end of the study.

Results: A significant improvement was found in the liver steatosis and fibrosis among the patients who consumed 3 meals, 3 snacks compared to the other groups (P < 0.001). In addition, a higher reduction was observed in serum levels of alanine amino transferase (ALT) (20.93 ± 23.37 mg/dl, P < 0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (17.15 ± 16.48 mg/dl, P < 0.001), gamma-glutamyl transferase(GGT) (13.43 ± 13.41 mg/dl; P < 0.001), and alkaline phosphatase (ALK) (47.19 ± 60.51 mg/dl; P = 0.004) in patients who consumed 3 meals, 3 snacks, while the concentration of liver enzymes in patients who consumed 3 meals increased significantly. At the end of the study, there was a significant increase in the fasting blood sugar (FBS) concentration in the "skipping breakfast" group (17.51 ± 38.85 mg/dl; P = 0.011) and "3-meals" group (17.51 ± 38.85 mg/dl, P = 0.03).

Conclusion: Consuming 3 meals, 3 snack per day significantly improves disease severity and biochemical factors in NAFLD patients. Further studies are warranted.

Trial registration number: : IRCT20201010048982N2. Name of the registry: Urmia University of Medical Sciences. Date of registration: 2021-08-22, 1400/05/31. URL of trial registry record: https://www.irct.ir/search/result?query=IRCT20201010048982N2.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-023-01375-2.

Keywords: Clinical trial; Liver enzymes; Meal pattern; Non-alcoholic fatty Liver Disease; Steatosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of the study protocol
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Masarone M, Federico A, Abenavoli L, Loguercio C, Persico M. Non alcoholic fatty liver: epidemiology and natural history. Rev Recen Clin Trial. 2014;9(3):126–33. - PubMed
    1. Bellentani S. The epidemiology of non-alcoholic fatty Liver Disease. Liver Int. 2017;37(Suppl 1):81–4. - PubMed
    1. Rinella ME, Sanyal AJ. Management of NAFLD: a stage-based approach. Nat Reviews Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;13(4):196–205. - PubMed
    1. Perumpail BJ, Khan MA, Yoo ER, Cholankeril G, Kim D, Ahmed A. Clinical epidemiology and Disease burden of nonalcoholic fatty Liver Disease. World J Gastroenterol. 2017;23(47):8263–76. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gadiparthi C, Spatz M, Greenberg S, Iqbal U, Kanna S, Satapathy SK, et al. NAFLD epidemiology, emerging pharmacotherapy, liver transplantation implications and the trends in the United States. J Clin Translational Hepatol. 2020;8(2):215. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources