Letters To The Editor
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World J Gastroenterol. Oct 7, 2012; 18(37): 5315-5316
Published online Oct 7, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i37.5315
Vague relationship between alcohol consumption and metabolic syndrome in nonobese people
Kei Nakajima, Masafumi Saito
Kei Nakajima, Masafumi Saito, Division of Clinical Nutrition, Department of Medical Dietetics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Josai University, 1-1 Keyakidai, Sakado, Saitama 350-0295, Japan
Author contributions: Nakajima K and Saito M researched and evaluated the literature; Nakajima K wrote the manuscript; and both authors reviewed and edited the manuscript, and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Kei Nakajima, MD, PhD, Division of Clinical Nutrition, Department of Medical Dietetics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Josai University, 1-1 Keyakidai, Sakado, Saitama 350-0295, Japan. keinaka@josai.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-49-2717260 Fax: +81-49-2717260
Received: March 15, 2012
Revised: June 25, 2012
Accepted: August 14, 2012
Published online: October 7, 2012
Abstract

Fatty liver, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, is closely associated with metabolic syndrome (MS). Thus, the presence of fatty liver without MS in some conditions may be clinically important. Many studies have shown that compared with no or occasional alcohol intake, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower prevalence rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes, and lower levels of circulating C-reactive protein, a valuable marker for MS and insulin resistance. Considering these findings, light to moderate alcohol consumption has theoretical benefits on fatty liver and MS. Fatty liver, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, may be more clinically important than MS, particularly in non-obese individuals, because fatty liver can develop before MS in several conditions, such as regular alcohol consumers. Furthermore, most of the currently used MS criteria are unable to detect “true MS” because of variations in multiple factors such as age, height, medications, and complications.

Keywords: Alcohol consumption, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Metabolic syndrome, Adult treatment panel III