Table 1.
Clinical and biochemical characteristics of the study individuals
| Variables | Control group | NAFLD patients | Empiric P value |
| Number of subjects | 64 | 136 | |
| Age, yr | 46.14 ± 1.64 | 55.58 ± 1.06 | 0.001 |
| Smoking habit, cigarettes/d | 1.58 ± 0.52 | 1.30 ± 0.75 | NS |
| Physical activity, h/wk | 1.4 ± 0.30 | 1.4 ± 0.32 | NS |
| Drinking habits, g alcohol/d | 1.72 ± 0.64 | 0.75 ± 0.42 | NS |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 25.61 ± 0.64 | 36.02 ± 3.11 | 0.001 |
| Waist circumference, cm | 84.13 ± 2.14 | 103.07 ± 1.42 | 0.001 |
| Waist-hip ratio | 0.84 ± 0.01 | 0.91 ± 0.007 | 0.001 |
| SABP, mmHg | 121.64 ± 1.87 | 124.05 ± 2.11 | NS |
| DABP, mmHg | 75.86 ± 1.32 | 78.38 ± 1.49 | NS |
| Fasting plasma glucose, mmol/L | 4.73 ± 0.07 | 5.74 ± 0.22 | 0.050 |
| Fasting plasma insulin, pmol/L | 46.1 ± 3.5 | 94.5 ± 6.9 | 0.001 |
| HOMA Index | 1.42 ± 0.12 | 3.44 ± 0.30 | 0.001 |
| Total cholesterol, mmol/L | 5.59 ± 0.17 | 5.44 ± 0.15 | NS |
| HDL cholesterol, mmol/L | 1.27 ± 0.09 | 1.20 ± 0.05 | NS |
| LDL-cholesterol, mmol/L | 3.22 ± 0.29 | 3.11 ± 0.14 | NS |
| Uric acid, μmol/L | 220 ± 51 | 244 ± 27 | NS |
| Triglycerides, mmol/L | 1.74 ± 0.13 | 2.02 ± 013 | NS |
| ALT, UI/L | 24.37 ± 5.2 | 49.25 ± 5.32 | 0.080 |
| AST, UI/L | 26.4 ± 2.0 | 36.72 ± 2.27 | 0.080 |
| γGT, UI/L | 36.50 ± 6.8 | 53.69 ± 5.32 | NS |
| AF, UI/L | 221.87 ± 13.0 | 228.90 ± 11.2 | NS |
NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; BMI: Body mass index; SABP and DABP: Systolic and diastolic arterial blood pressure, respectively; HOMA: Homeostatic model assessment; ALT and AST: Serum alanine and aspartate aminotransferase, respectively; γGT: Gamma-glutamyl-transferase; AF: Alkaline phosphatase. Results are expressed as mean ± SE. Nominal P value stands for statistical significance using Student’s t test after log variable transformation. Empiric P value stands for statistical significance adjusted for multiple testing by Bonferoni correction. NS: Non significant.