Abstract: Objective This study aimed to investigate iron metabolism index changes in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods Ninety-eight patients with NAFLD and ninety-eight healthy individuals for physical examination were encountered in Yizheng People's Hospital between January 2022 to March 2024, and all underwent abdominal CT scan and total adipose area (TAA), total skeletal muscle area (SMA), liver-to-spleen CT value ratio (CT_L/S) and visceral adipose volume/subcutaneous adipose volume (VAV/SAV)ratio were measured and calculated by Reformate software. Serum ferritin light chain (FTL)was detected by ELISA, serum iron (SI)and unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC) were detected by colorimetry, and transferrin receptor (TRF) were assayed by turbidimetry. Fatty liver degree was determined by ultrasonography. Result Ultrasonography found mild, moderate and severe fatty liver in 31 cases, 33 cases and 34 cases in our series; serum ALT, AST, TG and TC levels in patients with moderate fatty liver were much higher than in those with mild fatty liver or healthy persons (P<0.05), and they were much higher in patients with severe fatty liver than in those with moderate (P<0.05);serumSI, FTLand UIBC levels in patients with moderate fatty liver were (29.6±3.3)μmol/L,(439.5±15.6)μg/L and (73.1±5.7)μmol/L, all much higher than [(20.9±3.9)μmol/L, (417.5±16.6)μg/Land (62.6±6.6)μmol/L, respectively, P<0.05] in patients with mild fatty liver or [(14.3±3.0)μmol/L, (303.6±18.5)μg/L and (50.5±7.5)μmol/L, respectively, P<0.05] in healthy persons, while serum TRF level was (2.6±0.3)g/L, much lower than [(3.0±0.4)g/L, P<0.05] in patients with mild fatty liver or [(3.5±0.6)g/L, P<0.05] in healthy individuals; TAA,SMA and VAV/SAV ratio in patients with moderate fatty liver were much greater (P<0.05), while CT_L/S was much less than in patients with mild fatty liver (P<0.05);TAA, SMA and VAV/SAV ratio in patients with severe fatty liver were much greater (P<0.05), while CT_L/S was much less than in patients with moderate fatty liver(P<0.05). Conclusion Iron metabolism is unstable in patients with NAFLD, which might be related to liver steatosis and inflammation and needs further investigation.

Key words: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Serum iron, Ferritin light chain, Unsaturated iron binding capacity, Transferrin