Table 1.
Subject characteristics
| ALD | ALC | HC | P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | 19 | 28 | 18 | |
| Age | 50 (31, 71) | 41 (23, 71) | 49 (30, 62) | 0.216 |
| Sex, male, % | 12 (63) | 23 (79) | 12 (67) | 0.425 |
| Race, Caucasian, % | 14 (82) | 20 (71) | 13 (72) | 0.757 |
| Amount of drinking* | 57,060 (4,320, 587,520) | 35,280 (5,760, 287,280) | 1,224 (0, 8,640) | < 0.001 |
| Duration of drinking, years | 28 (7, 51) | 19 (5, 41) | 24 (0, 43) | 0.120 |
| Child-Pugh, A,B,C, % | 74, 16, 10 | — | — | — |
| AST | 47 (21, 163) | 26 (17, 67) | 20 (15, 30) | < 0.001 |
| ALT | 31 (18, 133) | 30 (10, 95) | 20 (10, 49) | 0.082 |
| Total bilirubin | 0.9 (0.1, 13.1) | 0.5 (0.1, 2.0) | 0.4 (0.3, 1.1) | 0.005 |
| Endotoxin | 2.516 (0.860, 3.530) | 2.461 (1.000, 6.125) | 0.675 (0.389, 1.458) | 0.001 |
| At least college education, % | 5 (28) | 12 (43) | 9 (50) | 0.378 |
| Binge drinking, % | 5 (45) | 9 (53) | 0 (0) | 0.006 |
| Need for increasing drinks, % | 9 (53) | 19 (66) | 1 (6) | < 0.001 |
| Usual drinks, % | ||||
| Beer | 8 (44) | 17 (59) | 9 (53) | 0.639 |
| Wine | 6 (33) | 11 (38) | 11 (65) | 0.121 |
| Hard liquor | 12 (67) | 23 (79) | 3 (18) | < 0.001 |
| History, % | ||||
| Ulcers | 4 (22) | 3 (10) | 0 (0) | 0.095 |
| IBS | 1 (6) | 0 (0) | 1 (6) | 0.303 |
| Transfusion | 9 (50) | 2 (7) | 1 (6) | < 0.001 |
| Jaundice | 8 (44) | 4 (14) | 0 (0) | 0.002 |
| Gastrointestinal bleed | 12 (67) | 3 (10) | 1 (6) | < 0.001 |
| Family history of ALD, % | 2 (11) | 8 (28) | 3 (17) | 0.383 |
| Family history of drinking, % | 7 (41) | 19 (79) | 8 (47) | 0.027 |
| Sodium | 140 (126, 145) | 140 (135, 145) | 140 (138, 143) | 0.771 |
| Potassium | 4.0 (3.5, 5.9) | 4.1 (3.4, 5.0) | 4.0 (3.5, 5.0) | 0.350 |
| Chloride | 104 (95, 109) | 104 (99, 108) | 105 (101, 108) | 0.416 |
| Bicarbonate | 25 (21, 28) | 26 (22, 33) | 25 (21, 30) | 0.044 |
| Blood urea nitrogen | 13 (2, 49) | 14 (8, 26) | 13 (7, 19) | 0.349 |
| Creatinine | 0.8 (0.6, 1.6) | 0.9 (0.6, 1.6) | 1.0 (0.7, 1.2) | 0.032 |
| Glucose | 99 (57, 176) | 81 (51, 115) | 88 (71, 159) | 0.026 |
| Total protein | 6.9 (4.7, 8.6) | 7.3 (6.0, 9.3) | 7.5 (6.9, 8.2) | 0.034 |
| Albumin | 3.7 (1.9, 4.6) | 4.1 (3.6, 4.5) | 4.2 (3.6, 4.7) | 0.017 |
| Calcium | 9.1 (7.6, 9.7) | 9.1 (8.0, 10.4) | 9.4 (8.6, 10.2) | 0.043 |
| Alkaline phosphatase | 112 (60, 720) | 72 (45, 123) | 67 (43, 107) | 0.008 |
| Hemoglobin A1c | 5.6 (4.7, 6.1) | 5.6 (5.3, 7.3) | 5.6 (5.0, 7.9) | 0.613 |
| Ferritin | 169 (33, 336) | 74 (19, 735) | 80 (6, 170) | 0.069 |
| Hemoglobin | 14.0 (6.4, 18.4) | 14.7 (12.5, 16.8) | 14.8 (11.3, 16.4) | 0.548 |
| MCV | 91.8 (79.4, 105.0) | 91.7 (75.6, 105.0) | 86.7 (66.2, 93.1) | 0.004 |
| Platelet | 130 (54, 427) | 218 (124, 603) | 235 (177, 342) | <0.001 |
| WBC | 6.2 (2.4, 9.9) | 6.2 (3.5, 15.8) | 6.3 (3.3, 11.4) | 0.573 |
| CRP | 5.8 (1.0, 50.9) | 5.0 (1.0, 57.0) | 5.0 (5.0, 98.4) | 0.171 |
| ASMA, % | 1 (11) | 2 (17) | 1 (9) | < 0.999 |
| ANA, % | 3 (27) | 1 (8) | 1 (8) | 0.405 |
| PT | 13.7 (11.2, 22.6) | 12.2 (10.9, 14.0) | 12.2 (11.0, 13.2) | 0.020 |
| INR | 1.14 (0.91, 1.80) | 1.03 (0.91, 1.24) | 1.02 (0.92, 1.13) | 0.036 |
| Fiber, adjusted, g/day | 11.2 (8.7, 30.9) | 17.7 (10.7, 21.7) | 14.0 (8.6, 50.6) | 0.524 |
| %Fruits/vegetables, adjusted | 3.6 (1.5, 11.6) | 4.7 (2.9, 8.9) | 3.9 (1.4, 7.0) | 0.473 |
| %Fat, adjusted | 34.5 (28.5, 45.9) | 33.4 (26.2, 39.6) | 32.2 (27.6, 59.6) | 0.728 |
| Smoking, % | ||||
| Never | 5 (26) | 4 (14) | 11 (61) | 0.007 |
| Current | 7 (37) | 16 (55) | 2 (11) | 0.007 |
| Quit | 7(37) | 9 (31) | 5 (28) | 0.007 |
| Illegal drug use, % | 8 (44) | 18 (64) | 2 (11) | 0.002 |
For subject characteristics, n (%) or median (minimum, maximum) by group. *Estimated total drinks = (average drinks/day) × (days/month reported drinking) × 12 × (years drinking); **Kruskal-Wallis used for nonparametric continuous or ordinal data; χ2 test or Fisher exact test used for categorical data. ALD, alcoholics with liver disease; ALC, alcoholics without liver disease; HC, healthy controls; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; IBS, irritable bowel syndrome; MCV, mean corpuscular volume; WBC, white blood count; CRP, C-reactive protein; ASMA, anti-smooth muscle antibody; ANA, antinuclear antibody; PT, prothrombin time; INR, international normalized ratio.