Table 1.
Characteristics of the sickle cell disease study population.
| Patient characteristic* | SCD* | n | Controls | n | p** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 36 (11) | 228 | 37 (11) | 36 | .68 |
| Alanine aminotransferase (U/L) | 27 (15) | 225 | 23 (12) | 36 | .14 |
| Albumin (mg/dL) | 4.1 (0.4) | 224 | 4.1 (.2) | 35 | .29 |
| Alkaline phosphatase (U/L) | 115 (87) | 224 | 78 (23) | 36 | .004 |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (U/L) | 41 (22) | 223 | 24 (8) | 36 | < .001 |
| Blood urea nitrogen (mg/dL) | 10 (10) | 225 | 12 (4) | 36 | .002 |
| C-reactive protein (μg/mL) | .57 (0.91) | 203 | .35 (.47) | 35 | .04 |
| Creatinine (mg/dL) | .71(.67,.76) | 225 | .88(.80,.96) | 36 | .02 |
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mm/h) | 39 (31) | 180 | 21 (18) | 35 | <.001 |
| Gender (% female) | 60 | 228 | 53 | 36 | .44 |
| Hematocrit (%) | 28 (5) | 226 | 41 (4) | 36 | < .001 |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 9.5 (1.8) | 226 | 13.7 (1.5) | 36 | < .001 |
| Hemoglobin F (%) | 7.4 (6.6) | 227 | 0.4 (0.6) | 33 | < .001 |
| Hemoglobin SC (%) | 18 | 228 | |||
| Lactate dehydrogenase (U/L) | 347 (158) | 204 | 166 (39) | 35 | < .001 |
| Reticulocyte count (per μL) | 243 (132) | 214 | 66 (28) | 33 | < .001 |
| Tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity (m/s) | 2.3 (0.6) | 224 | 1.9 (.5) | 36 | .002 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 116 (68) | 200 | 79 (49) | 29 | < .001 |
| Weight (kg) | 71 (18) | 178 | 84 (16) | 33 | < .001 |
| White blood cell count (thousands/μL) | 10.2 (3.7) | 226 | 5.8 (2.1) | 36 | < .001 |
*
Mean (standard deviation) for continuous variables (except creatinine, for which geometric mean and 95% confidence interval are shown because of highly skewed values in sickle cell disease patients); percentage with characteristic for dichotomous variable.
**
From two-sided t-test for continuous variables (on log10 transformed values for laboratory assays); chi-square test without continuity correction for dichotomous variables.