Kader Torbator

Medical Student Prize Winner

“The Association between Psoriasis and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease using Transient Elastography to Asses Fibrosis and Steatosis: A Retrospective Study.”

‘NAFLD is the most common chronic liver disease, affecting 30% of the western population. Its prevalence rises to 90% in morbidly obese people and ranges from steatosis (isolated fatty liver) with no damage, to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, where inflammation develops causing fibrosis. NAFLD is expected to be the leading cause of liver transplantation worldwide by 2030.

Psoriasis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory skin disease that affects 2-4% of the western population and 125 million people worldwide. A possible correlation has been documented between the prevalence and severity of NAFLD and psoriasis and although mechanisms underlying the relationship between psoriasis and NAFLD are complex and multifactorial,
both are strongly associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

This pilot study aims to examine the prevalence and severity of NAFLD in a sample of patients with psoriasis and to compare characteristics of psoriasis patients with and without NAFLD.

The team will assess the severity of NAFLD using a non-invasive screening process, Transient Elastography, and they will examine the correlation of NAFLD with the severity of psoriasis. Finally, they hope to develop a local clinical pathway to screen patients with psoriasis for early diagnosis of NAFLD.

‘Very early results of our study have indicated that 54% of the study participants had no fibrosis, 15% had mild fibrosis, 8% had moderate and 23% had severe fibrosis. Additionally, 38% of the participants were free from steatosis, 8% had mild steatosis, 8% had moderate and 23% had severe steatosis.’

‘It is worth noting that NAFLD-related risk factors are often preventable with lifestyle modification. Therefore, early identification of NAFLD through a practical, non-invasive screening tool and prompt management can reduce morbidity and burden of disease, including the need for painful and
invasive liver biopsies.’

Why did you choose this project?

“I chose to do this project for my BSc degree because in the last 3 years of medical school, I really enjoyed learning about the gastro-intestinal system and the liver. Studying diseases associated with the gut or liver always came a lot easier due to my interest in them compared to the other topics, so being able to work on a research project which focussed on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was exciting for me.”