Table 1.
Anthropometric data and NAFLD-related biochemical data for the patients categorized according to muscle-quality tertiles and assessed using muscle echo-intensity
| Variable | Muscle quality | Post hoc test | SS* | P for trend* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modest (M) | Intermediate (I) | Poor (P) | M vs. I | M vs. P | I vs. P | |||
| All patients (n = 307) | ||||||||
| Number | 103 | 101 | 103 | |||||
| Men | 66 (64.1) | 45 (44.6) | 32 (31.1) | |||||
| Echo-intensity (A.U.) | 84.1 ± 9.6 | 97.4 ± 2.6 | 113.6 ± 11.3 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | 18.54 | < 0.001 |
| Age (yr) | 47.7 ± 14.6 | 55.4 ± 14.6 | 61.0 ± 12.8 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | < 0.050 | 6.32 | < 0.001 |
| Height (cm) | 165.7 ± 9.4 | 162.2 ± 10.1 | 158.5 ± 9.3 | < 0.050 | < 0.001 | < 0.050 | −5.38 | < 0.001 |
| Body mass (kg) | 78.6 ± 21.1 | 75.2 ± 18.5 | 68.8 ± 17.5 | 0.638 | < 0.010 | 0.053 | −4.14 | < 0.001 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 28.3 ± 5.6 | 28.4 ± 5.7 | 27.4 ± 5.6 | > 0.999 | 0.892 | 0.577 | −1.65 | 0.099 |
| Subcutaneous fat thickness (cm) | 11.5 ± 4.5 | 11.7 ± 4.4 | 11.6 ± 5.1 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | −0.01 | 0.989 |
| Visceral fat area (cm2) | 121.8 ± 45.4 | 127.6 ± 45.3 | 125.2 ± 50.7 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | 0.34 | 0.731 |
| Body fat mass (kg) | 26.5 ± 11.9 | 27.1 ± 11.5 | 25.3 ± 11.5 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | 0.739 | −1.09 | 0.276 |
| %Body fat | 33.0 ± 8.0 | 35.1 ± 8.6 | 35.7 ± 8.6 | 0.207 | 0.075 | > 0.999 | 2.00 | < 0.050 |
| Lean mass (kg) | 52.0 ± 12.3 | 48.0 ± 10.6 | 43.7 ± 9.4 | < 0.050 | < 0.001 | < 0.050 | −5.32 | < 0.001 |
| Hand grip strength (kg) | 34.8 ± 9.4 | 30.9 ± 8.5 | 27.1 ± 8.4 | < 0.010 | < 0.001 | < 0.010 | −6.00 | < 0.001 |
| AST (IU/L) | 39.9 ± 25.4 | 37.8 ± 20.6 | 42.1 ± 33.0 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | 0.739 | −0.25 | 0.801 |
| ALT (IU/L) | 62.8 ± 52.0 | 51.1 ± 40.3 | 47.5 ± 49.2 | 0.255 | 0.066 | > 0.999 | −2.88 | < 0.010 |
| Platelet count (104/μL) | 245.6 ± 56.5 | 224.5 ± 65.3 | 199.8 ± 71.8 | 0.062 | < 0.001 | < 0.050 | −5.05 | < 0.001 |
| FPG (mg/dL) | 113.4 ± 26.0 | 115.4 ± 23.8 | 119.5 ± 29.8 | > 0.999 | 0.318 | 0.916 | 1.69 | 0.092 |
| Ferritin (ng/dL) | 180.8 ± 217.4 | 139.1 ± 120.4 | 134.1 ± 144.0 | 0.255 | 0.156 | > 0.999 | −2.28 | < 0.050 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 140.6 ± 84.6 | 129.5 ± 73.4 | 128.2 ± 73.9 | > 0.999 | 0.778 | > 0.999 | −1.19 | 0.193 |
| Non-obese patients (n = 98) | ||||||||
| Number | 33 | 33 | 32 | |||||
| Men | 18 (54.5) | 17 (51.5) | 10 (31.2) | |||||
| Echo-intensity (A.U.) | 81.1 ± 10.6 | 98.3 ± 3.5 | 120.3 ± 15.5 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | 10.44 | < 0.001 |
| Age (yr) | 52.2 ± 15.4 | 62.9 ± 13.1 | 67.3 ± 9.3 | < 0.010 | < 0.001 | 0.523 | 4.24 | < 0.001 |
| Height (cm) | 162.5 ± 10.2 | 161.1 ± 10.8 | 156.6 ± 9.0 | > 0.999 | 0.059 | 0.230 | −2.43 | < 0.050 |
| Body mass (kg) | 61.0 ± 10.4 | 59.6 ± 10.4 | 56.3 ± 7.6 | > 0.999 | 0.154 | 0.530 | −2.29 | < 0.050 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 22.9 ± 2.0 | 22.8 ± 1.8 | 22.9 ± 1.3 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | −0.74 | 0.458 |
| Subcutaneous fat thickness (cm) | 9.8 ± 3.8 | 9.0 ± 2.7 | 8.6 ± 3.1 | 0.932 | 0.402 | > 0.999 | −1.23 | 0.220 |
| Visceral fat area (cm2) | 88.2 ± 22.8 | 88.5 ± 30.9 | 84.8 ± 23.6 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | −0.57 | 0.570 |
| Body fat mass (kg) | 16.5 ± 3.9 | 16.8 ± 4.1 | 16.5 ± 3.2 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | > 0.999 | 0.07 | 0.948 |
| %Body fat | 27.5 ± 6.5 | 27.9 ± 7.1 | 29.8 ± 5.7 | > 0.999 | 0.463 | 0.734 | 1.42 | 0.155 |
| Lean mass (kg) | 44.6 ± 10.1 | 42.7 ± 9.5 | 39.7 ± 7.6 | > 0.999 | 0.105 | 0.579 | −2.24 | < 0.050 |
| Hand grip strength (kg) | 30.9 ± 8.8 | 29.3 ± 8.5 | 25.4 ± 7.7 | > 0.999 | < 0.050 | 0.211 | −2.62 | < 0.010 |
| AST (IU/L) | 31.6 ± 21.7 | 28.7 ± 11.8 | 39.6 ± 25.9 | > 0.999 | 0.355 | 0.105 | 1.85 | 0.065 |
| ALT (IU/L) | 44.1 ± 41.5 | 30.3 ± 20.3 | 43.1 ± 45.6 | 0.411 | > 0.999 | 0.516 | −0.01 | 0.992 |
| Platelet count (104/μL) | 251.9 ± 66.1 | 213.6 ± 60.6 | 177.7 ± 65.8 | 0.052 | < 0.001 | 0.080 | −4.51 | < 0.001 |
| FPG (mg/dL) | 113.1 ± 33.8 | 116.3 ± 24.2 | 112.8 ± 20.7 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 0.89 | 0.372 |
| Ferritin (ng/dL) | 123.6 ± 104.3 | 119.3 ± 99.7 | 147.4 ± 200.2 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | −0.26 | 0.796 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 123.4 ± 85.4 | 121.8 ± 77.1 | 111.2 ± 65.6 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | −0.56 | 0.578 |
Values are presented as number (%) or mean±standard deviation. The sample sizes (n) for each of the four variables were as follows: All patients: hand grip strength (M: 102, I: 101, P: 100); FPG (M: 101, I: 98, P: 98); ferritin (M: 99, I: 99, P: 95); triglycerides (M: 98, I: 98, P: 100); non-obese patients: hand grip strength (M: 32, I: 33, P: 29); FPG (M: 31, I: 29, P: 30); ferritin (M: 32, I: 32, P: 27); triglycerides (M: 30, I: 32, P: 30). The ranges of muscle echo-intensity for each tertile were as follows: All patients: modest, 40.8−93.0 A.U., intermediate, 93.1–102.2 A.U., poor, 102.2–182.4 A.U., and non-obese patients: modest, 43.3−92.4 A.U., intermediate, 93.0–105.6 A.U., poor, 105.9–182.4 A.U. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the means of the three tertile groups, and the Bonferroni post hoc test was used when ANOVA revealed significant differences (P<0.05; not significant).
*The Jonckheere–Terpstra test was used to identify trends in the values across the three groups (two-tailed, P<0.05). NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; M, modest muscle quality; I, intermediate muscle quality; P, poor muscle quality; SS, standardized statistic; A.U., arbitrary units; BMI, body mass index; AST, aspartate transferase; ALT, alanine transaminase; FPG, fasting plasma glucose.