Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the leading chronic liver diseases affecting developed counties, and is getting increasingly diagnosed worldwide. The current study assessed the role of NAFLD as a novel cardiometabolic risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and other chronic complications and poor glycemic control in people with history of T2DM.

This study included English articles which were extensively searched using the keywords "nonalcoholic fatty liver disease" or "fatty liver" combined with "diabetes risk," "cardiovascular risk," "cardiovascular mortality," "chronic kidney disease," or "diabetic nephropathy" between 1990 and 2012. Evidences suggest that NAFLD aggravates hepatic insulin resistance and augments the risk of developing T2DM. Moreover, it has been observed that NAFLD may reduce glycemic control in people with T2DM and may cause advancement into chronic complications of diabetes, such as cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease.

Thus, the evidences supports meticulous screening of patients affected with NAFLD and its negative impact on diabetes and its major chronic vascular among endocrinologists/cardiologists/hepatologists. Therefore, the treatment of patients with NAFLD should not only concentrate on liver disease, clinicians should also identify the elevated risk of developing T2DM and its chronic vascular complications, and in turn manage prompt, aggressive risk factor modification.

Source: J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Feb;98(2):483-95.