Table 1.
Clinical and biochemical characterisation of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
| Steatosis | NASH | Steatosis and cirrhosis | |
| No of patients (M/F) | 79 (54/25) | 74 (39/35) | 14 (8/6) |
| Age (y) | 51.5 (13.7)** | 53.6 (13.3)** | 60.3 (9.9) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 32.4 (5.9)*† | 34.5 (4.7) | 36.7 (4.4) |
| Diabetes (%) | 12 (15) | 28 (38) | 9 (64) |
| AST (U/l) | 33.8 (15.1)**†† | 47.8 (23.6) | 50.3 (28.0) |
| ALT (U/L) | 56.3 (34.2)† | 73.8 (50.6) | 53.5 (51.9) |
| AST/ALT ratio | 0.70 (0.29)*** | 0.73 (0.24)*** | 1.28 (0.64) |
| γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (U/l) | 85.6 (54.7)** | 73.3 (49.0)*** | 170.9 (239.3) |
| Alkaline phosphatase (U/l) | 86.0 (29.6)** | 86.6 (33.0)** | 107 (41.4) |
| IgG | 10.91 (2.27)** | 10.99 (3.29)** | 15.51 (4.32) |
| Bilirubin (μmol/l) | 11.9 (6.3)* | 10.7 (6.6)* | 16.0 (9.6) |
| Ferritin (μg/l) | 153.2 (112.3) | 175.9 (106.2) | 175.0 (193.8) |
| Cholesterol (mmol/l) | 6.0 (1.5)***† | 5.6 (1.1)† | 4.4 (1.1) |
| Triglycerides (mmol/l) | 2.8 (1.8) | 3.0 (2.0) | 2.1 (0.9) |
| Albumin (g/l) | 45.5 (2.8)*** | 44.7 (3.5)*** | 39.7 (5.6) |
Statistically significant versus steatosis plus cirrhosis: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.0001. Statistically significant versus NASH: †p<0.05; ††p<0.0001.
AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase.