Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of the 143 study participants. Results in median and interquartile range unless otherwise indicated.
| Demographics | |
| Recruitment group in no. (%) | |
| Self-reported alcohol consumption <2 drinks/week | 72 (50.3%) |
| Self-reported alcohol consumption ≥4 drinks/day | 71 (49.7%) |
| Age in years | 47 (42–54) |
| Women in no. (%) | 40 (28.0) |
| Weight (kg) | 81 (71–92) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 27.8 (24.2–31.8) |
| HIV seropositive by history in no. (%) | 5 (3.5%)a |
| Results of dietary questionnaire | |
| Alcohol (g/d) | 18 (1–51)b |
| Alcohol group in no. (%) | |
| <4 g/d | 45 (31.7%) |
| >56 g/d | 32 (22.5%)b |
| Kcal/day | 3,129 (1,824–5,087)b |
| Dietary total iron (mg/d) | 20 (10–34)b |
| Dietary heme iron (mg/d) | 4 (2–6)b |
| Dietary non-heme iron (mg/d) | 16 (8–28)b |
| Supplemental iron (mg/d) | 0 (0–14) |
| Vitamin C (mg/d) | 136 (60–242)b |
| Laboratory tests | |
| Ferroportin Q248H mutation in no. (%)b | |
| Heterozygotes | 14 (10.2)c |
| Homozygotes | 1 (0.7)c |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 14.1 (13.2–15.0)c |
| Mean corpuscular volume (fL) | 90 (86–93)d |
| White blood cells (10−3/μL) | 5.8 (4.4–7.5)d |
| Platelets (10−3/μL) | 252 (211–301)d |
| C-reactive protein (mg/L) | 2.2 (0.7–6.0)d |
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mm/hr) | 15 (6–32)e |
| Bilirubin (mg/dL) | 0.7 (0.6–0.9)f |
| ALT (U/L) | 24 (18–37)f |
| AST (U/L) | 27 (22–37)b |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 3.9 (3.7–4.2)a |
| Protein (g/dL) | 7.3 (6.8–7.7)a |
| Anti-hepatitis C virus positive in no. (%) | 40 (28.2)b |
| Hepatitis B surface antigen positive in no. (%) | 3 (2.1)b |
| Ferritin (μg/L) | 92 (47–210)a |
| Transferrin saturation (%) | 27 (19–34)g |
a
N = 141;
b
N = 142;
c
N = 137;
d
N = 139;
e
N = 132;
f
N = 140;
g
N = 130
ALT = alanine aminotransferase; AST = aspartate aminotransferase