Table 1. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and histological data as well as hepatic hepcidin mRNA and serum hepcidin levels of patients and healthy controls.
| Variables | Total patients (n = 126) | HCV (n = 21) | HBV (n = 23) | AIH (n = 16) | PBC/PSC (n = 34) | NAFLD (n = 32) | Healthy (n = 17) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 46.8±15.5 | 40.6±13.6 | 42.6±14.6 | 53.5±16.3 | 53±13.5 | 43.9±16.1 | 45.2±15 | 0.009 |
| Sex, male / female | 52 / 74 | 10 / 11 | 15 / 8 | 4 / 12 | 7 / 27 | 16 / 16 | 10 / 7 | 0.006 |
| ALT (IU/L) | 60 (73) | 49 (59) | 71 (97) | 95 (241) | 32 (57) | 65 (56) | 32 (5) | <0.001 |
| AST (IU/L) | 35 (34) | 32 (27) | 45 (60) | 58 (83) | 31 (20) | 30 (21) | 31 (4) | 0.027 |
| γGT (IU/L) | 45 (69) | 27 (34) | 28 (50) | 30 (88) | 71 (77) | 57 (66) | 29 (8) | <0.001 |
| ALP (IU/L) | 76 (42) | 63 (30) | 68 (41) | 71 (39) | 105 (100) | 81 (34) | 62 (12) | <0.001 |
| Bilirubin (mg/dL) | 0.66 (0.51) | 0.72 (0.35) | 0.95 (0.66) | 0.65 (1.32) | 0.66 (0.48) | 0.55 (0.32) | 0.65 (0.15) | 0.008 |
| Hemoglobin (g/L) | 13.8 (2.5) | 14.2 (2.3) | 14.3 (2.8) | 13.4 (1.6) | 13 (1.6) | 14.5 (2.3) | 14.7 (1) | 0.003 |
| Ferritin (ng/ml) | 119 (124) | 91 (114) | 143 (207) | 126 (213) | 88 (120) | 123 (99) | NA | 0.109 |
| Albumin (g/L) | 4.4±0.4 | 4.5±0.3 | 4.4±0.3 | 4.2±0.4 | 4.3±0.4 | 4.6±0.3 | 4.5±0.2 | 0.001 |
| INR | 0.96±0.11 | 0.96±0.1 | 0.99±0.12 | 1±0.12 | 0.95±0.13 | 0.92±0.09 | 0.92±0.1 | 0.065 |
| Inflammation | 0.05 | |||||||
| Minimal/mild (%) | 89 (70.6) | 12 (57.1) | 14 (60.8) | 9 (56.3) | 26 (76.5) | 28 (87.5) | NA | |
| Moderate/severe (%) | 37 (29.4) | 9 (42.9) | 9 (39.2) | 7 (43.8) | 8 (23.5) | 4 (12.5) | NA | |
| Fibrosis | <0.001 | |||||||
| None/mild/moderate (%) | 101(80.2) | 15 (71.4) | 13 (56.5) | 11 (68.8) | 31 (91.1) | 31 (96.8) | NA | |
| Severe/cirrhosis (%) | 25 (19.8) | 6 (28.6) | 10 (43.5) | 5 (31.2) | 3 (8.9) | 1 (3.2) | NA | |
| Cirrhosis | 0.439 | |||||||
| No (%) | 120 (95.2) | 19 (90.5) | 21 (91.3) | 15 (93.7) | 33 (97.1) | 32 (100) | NA | |
| Yes (%) | 6 (4.8) | 2 (9.5) | 2 (8.7) | 1 (6.3) | 1 (2.9) | 0 (0) | NA | |
| Liver hepcidin mRNA | 0.74 (1.22) | 0.72 (1.21) | 1.32 (1.08) | 0.47 (1.10) | 0.74 (1.12) | 0.65 (1.18) | NA | 0.267 |
| hepcidin mRNA / log ferritin | 0.35 (0.61) | 0.44 (0.54) | 0.61 (0.47) | 0.26 (0.53) | 0.35 (0.64) | 0.29 (0.65) | NA | 0.315 |
| Serum hepcidin (ng/ml) | 35 (100) | 56 (101) | 109 (165) | 9 (6) | 8 (14) | 85 (116) | 61 (39) | <0.001 |
| Serum hepcidin/ log ferritin | 16.9 (50) | 26.4 (49.7) | 45.9 (72.1) | 4.3 (2.9) | 4.5 (6.9) | 39.4 (60.1) | NA | <0.001 |