Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on emotions and liver function tests in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD). Methods 28 patients with NAFLD were encountered in our hospital between January to Jun 2022, and the BMI, liver function tests, blood glucose and blood lipids were obtained and the psychological state was evaluated by using 9-item depression scale of patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) and 7-item generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7). Results At the end of the episode of pandemic in Shanghai, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in 28 patients with NAFLD were (88.6±9.2)U/L and(49.2±3.9)U/L, significantly higher than [(52.3±4.9)U/L and (31.0±2.7)U/L, P<0.01] before the pandemic, while there were no significant differences as respect to total serum bilirubin, serum γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), blood glucose and blood lipids levels (P>0.05); the GAD-7 score in patients with NAFLD after the pandemic was (7.9±0.6), significantly higher than [(5.9±0.5), P<0.05] before pandemic, and the PHQ-9 score was (6.9±0.7), also significantly higher than [(5.3±0.5), P<0.05] before pandemic; after adjusting for gender and age, the change of GAD-7 score was positively correlated with the elevated serum ALT level in patients with NAFLD[β=0.033(CI:0.005-0.061),P=0.021], but not with serum AST level [β=0.037(CI:-0.015-0.09),P=0.165]. Conclusion The pandemic of COVID-19 could result in the anxiety of patients with NAFLD, which might lead to the liver injury. More mental attention, psychological counseling and social support should be paid to them at the time of hardship.

Key words: Non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, COVID-19, Pandemic, Anxiety, Depression