AIM:To establish and validate a simple quantitative assessment method for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) based on a combination of the ultrasound hepatic/renal ratio and hepatic attenuation rate. METHODS:A total of 170 subjects were enrolled in this study. All subjects were examined by ultrasound and 1 H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H-MRS) on the same day. The ultrasound hepatic/renal echointensity ratio and ultrasound hepatic echo-intensity attenuation rate were obtained from ordinary ultrasound images using the MATLAB program. RESULTS:Correlation analysis revealed that the ultrasound hepatic/renal ratio and hepatic echo-intensity attenuation rate were significantly correlated with 1 H-MRS liver fat content (ultrasound hepatic/renal ratio: r = 0.952, P = 0.000; hepatic echo-intensity attenuation r = 0.850, P = 0.000). The equation for predicting liver fat content by ultrasound (quantitative ultrasound model) is: liver fat content (%) = 61.519 × ultrasound hepatic/renal ratio + 167.701 × hepatic echo-intensity attenuation rate -26.736. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that the liver fat content ratio of the quantitative ultrasound model was positively correlated with serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and triglyceride, but negatively correlated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the optimal point for diagnosing fatty liver was 9.15% in the quantitative ultrasound model. Furthermore, in the quantitative ultrasound model, fatty liver diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 94.7% and 100.0%, respectively, showing that the quantitative ultrasound model was better than conventional ultrasound methods or the combined ultrasound hepatic/renal ratio and hepatic echo-intensity attenuation rate. If the 1 H-MRS liver fat content had a value < 15%, the sensitivity and specificity of the ultrasound quantitative model would be 81.4% and 100%, which still shows that using the model is better than the other methods. CONCLUSION:The quantitative ultrasound model is a simple, low-cost, and sensitive tool that can accurately assess hepatic fat content in clinical practice. It provides an easy and effective parameter for the early diagnosis of mild hepatic steatosis and evaluation of the efficacy of NAFLD treatment. Key words: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Ultrasound hepatic/renal ratio; Ultrasound hepatic echo-intensity attenuation rateCore tip: The quantitative ultrasound model is a simple, low-cost, and sensitive tool that can accurately assess hepatic fat content in clinical practice. It provides an easy and effective parameter for early diagnosis of mild hepatic steatosis and evaluation of the efficacy of Zhang B, Ding F, Chen T, Xia LH, Qian J, Lv GY. Ultrasound hepatic/renal ratio and hepatic attenuation rate for quantifying liver fat content.

miR-155 plays a protective role in the progression of atherosclerosis, and it may be achieved by reducing the apoptosis effort of OxLDL to RAW264.7 macrophagocyte.

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Profilin-1 expression, being negative in regulating Caveolin-3 expression and eNOS/NO pathway activity, promotes the development of myocardial hypertrophy which can be reversed by Profilin-1 silencing.