Table 1.
Baseline characteristics stratified by NAFLD status in the twin cohort
| Overall | Twins with NAFLD (MRI-PDFF ≥ 5%) | Twins without NAFLD (MRI-PDFF < 5%) | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 120 | 26 | 94 | |
| Demographics | ||||
| Age (years) | 45.7 (22.1) | 54.9 (17.3) | 43.2 (22.7) | .0163 |
| Sex (% male) | 33 (27.5%) | 11 (42.3%) | 22 (23.4%) | .0561 |
| Race | .0858 | |||
| White | 94 (78.3%) | 18 (69.2%) | 76 (80.9%) | |
| Hispanic | 18 (15.0%) | 5 (19.2%) | 13 (13.8%) | |
| Asian | 6 (5.0%) | 1 (3.9%) | 5 (5.3%) | |
| Hawaiian/Pac Islander | 2 (1.7%) | 2 (7.7%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Physical | ||||
| Height (cm) | 165.5 (8.3) | 167.0 (10.7) | 165.1 (7.5) | .4187 |
| Weight (kg) | 72.5 (18.0) | 88.8 (20.5) | 68.0 (14.3) | <.0001 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 26.4 (5.7) | 31.5 (4.8) | 24.9 (5.1) | <.0001 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 125.8 (19.7) | 135.5 (16.7) | 123.1 (19.6) | .0038 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 78.9 (12.4) | 82.9 (13.0) | 77.8 (12.1) | .0603 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 89.5 (12.8) | 100.0 (10.6) | 86.5 (11.8) | <.0001 |
| Hip circumference (cm) | 100.2 (11.4) | 107.5 (11.6) | 98.1 (10.5) | .0001 |
| Laboratory data | ||||
| Glucose (mg/dL) | 89.7 (19.1) | 101.6 (34.3) | 86.4 (9.7) | .0023 |
| Insulin (U/L) | 8.4(5.5) | 12.6 (7.1) | 7.2(4.4) | .0006 |
| Hemoglobin A1c | 5.8 (0.5) | 6.1(0.7) | 5.7(0.3) | .0017 |
| HOMA-IR | 1.9 (1.4) | 3.1 (1.9) | 1.6 (1.1) | .0002 |
| AST (U/L) | 23.4 (9.9) | 27.0 (16.6) | 22.4 (6.7) | .1459 |
| ALT (U/L) | 23.1 (19.8) | 35.0 (32.8) | 19.8 (10.4) | .0012 |
| Alkaline Phosphatase (U/L) | 68.8 (19.4) | 69.7 (15.1) | 68.5 (21.0) | .5998 |
| Total bilirubin (mg/dL) | 0.5(0.3) | 0.5(0.4) | 0.5(0.2) | .7444 |
| Direct bilirubin (mg/dL) | 0.1(0.1) | 0.1(0.1) | 0.1(0.1) | .1112 |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 4.5 (0.3) | 4.5(0.2) | 4.5(0.4) | .3529 |
| GGT (U/L) | 23.8 (20.4) | 33.1 (29.6) | 21.2 (16.2) | .0058 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 194.3 (40.9) | 200.6 (36.1) | 192.5 (42.2) | .2190 |
| HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) | 65.3 (21.8) | 51.0 (15.9) | 69.3 (21.6) | <.0001 |
| LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) | 110.3 (34.8) | 119.8 (30.7) | 107.5 (35.6) | .0308 |
| Trigylcerides (mg/dL) | 94.1 (55.1) | 150.7 (71.1) | 78.0 (36.4) | <.0001 |
| White blood cell count (x103/uL) | 5.8 (1.3) | 6.4 (1.5) | 5.6 (1.2) | .0126 |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 13.7 (1.2) | 14.0 (1.4) | 13.6 (1.2) | .1287 |
| Hematocrit (%) | 40.7 (3.3) | 41.5 (3.8) | 40.5 (3.2) | .1020 |
| Platelet count (x103/uL) | 251.7 (51.2) | 253.0 (57.7) | 251.4 (49.6) | .9123 |
| INR | 1.1 (0.3) | 1.1 (0.4) | 1.1 (0.3) | .4965 |
| Ferritin (ng/mL) | 101.9 (93.9) | 134.4 (144.4) | 92.6 (72.0) | .1702 |
| Imaging data | ||||
| MRI-PDFF (%) | 4.156 (4.25) | 10.740 (5.08) | 2.334 (0.85) | <.0001 |
| MRE (Kpa) | 2.339 (0.77) | 3.004 (1.23) | 2.148 (0.42) | <.0001 |
| PNPLA3 phenotype (N=87) | 0.8360 | |||
| CC | 39 (44.8%) | 9 (45.0%) | 30 (47.8%) | |
| CG | 38 (43.7%) | 8 (40.0%) | 30 (44.8%) | |
| GG | 10 (11.5%) | 3 (15.0%) | 7 (10.4%) | |
Footnote: Mean value provided with standard deviation in parenthesis, unless otherwise noted as N(%). Differences between participants with and without NAFLD were evaluated with t tests or Wilcoxon Mann–Whitney for continuous variables and χ2 or Fishers exact tests for categorical variables.
Abbreviations for table: NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; HOMA-IR, homeostatic model of insulin resistance; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; GGT, gamma- glutamyl transpeptidase; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; INR, international normalized ratio; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; PDFF, proton-density-fat-fraction.
Significant p-values <0.05