Table 3. Characteristics of study population by different levels of AST/ALT1,2.
| AST/ALT ratio | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | T1 (n = 152) | T2 (n = 108) | T3 (n = 154) | P | |
| Age (years)† | 414 | 7.0 (5.0–9.0) | 6.5 (4.0–9.0) | 6.0 (5.0–9.0) | 0.222 |
| Gender | |||||
| Boys | 216 | 87 (40.3) | 54 (25.0) | 75 (34.7) | 0.285 |
| Girls | 198 | 65 (32.8) | 54 (27.3) | 79 (39.9) | |
| Weight (kg)† | 414 | 24.4 (18.5–34.5) | 23.0 (18.3–29.6) | 23.0 (17.3–29.9) | 0.056 |
| Height (cm)† | 414 | 123.8 (110.0–136.0) | 121.5 (105.0–133.0) | 120.0 (108.9–133.5) | 0.302 |
| BMI (kg/m2)† | 414 | 16.1 (14.7–19.9) | 16.0 (14.8–17.6) | 15.9 (14.2–17.1) | 0.096 |
| gender- and age- BMI <25‡ | 321 | 103 (32.1) | 90 (28.0) | 128 (39.9) | 0.002 |
| gender- and age- BMI ≥25‡ | 93 | 49 (52.7) | 18 (19.4) | 26 (28.0) | |
| IFG (mg/dL)† | 414 | 85.0 (80.0–91.0) | 82.0 (73.0–87.8) | 85.5 (79.0–90.0) | 0.004 |
| <100‡ | 389 | 139 (35.7) | 103 (26.5) | 147 (37.8) | 0.157 |
| ≥ 100‡ | 25 | 13 (52.0) | 5 (20.0) | 7 (28.0) | |
| TChol (mg/dL)† | 414 | 171.0 (147.0–197.0) | 162.0 (141.3–180.8) | 161.0 (146.0–179.3) | 0.019 |
| < 200‡ | 348 | 118 (33.9) | 92 (26.4) | 138 (39.7) | 0.004 |
| ≥ 200‡ | 66 | 34 (51.5) | 16 (24.2) | 16 (24.2) | |
| LDL-chol (mg/dL)† | 414 | 99.5 (78.0–121.0) | 94.0 (78.3–106.8) | 94.0 (79.0–111.0) | 0.129 |
| < 130‡ | 366 | 123 (33.6) | 98 (26.8) | 145 (39.6) | <0.001 |
| ≥ 130‡ | 48 | 29 (60.4) | 10 (20.8) | 9 (18.8) | |
| Non-HDL-chol (mg/dL)† | 414 | 121.5 (103.0–152.0) | 111.0 (94.0–132.8) | 113.5 (93.8–133.0) | 0.001 |
| < 145‡ | 322 | 101 (31.4) | 89 (27.6) | 132 (41.0) | <0.001 |
| ≥ 145‡ | 92 | 51 (55.4) | 19 (20.7) | 22 (23.9) | |
| HDL-chol (mg/dL)† | 414 | 42.0 (37.0–51.0) | 48.0 (42.0–56.0) | 47.0 (41.0–55.0) | <0.001 |
| > 40‡ | 305 | 96 (31.5) | 86 (28.2) | 123 (40.3) | 0.001 |
| ≤ 40‡ | 109 | 56 (51.4) | 22 (20.2) | 31 (28.4) | |
| TG (mg/dL)†* | 414 | 108.0 (77.0–153.0) | 79.5 (64.0–113.8) | 77.5 (64.8–97.3) | <0.001 |
| < 100/130‡ | 266 | 73 (27.4) | 71 (26.7) | 122 (45.9) | <0.001 |
| ≥ 100/130‡ | 148 | 79 (53.4) | 37 (25.0) | 32 (21.6) | |
| RLP-chol (mg/dL)†§ | 414 | 23.0 (16.0–34.5) | 16.0 (12.0–23.8) | 16.0 (13.0–20.0) | <0.001 |
| < 24.8/27.0‡ | 309 | 87 (28.2) | 89 (28.8) | 133 (43.0) | <0.001 |
| ≥ 24.8/27.0‡ | 105 | 65 (61.9) | 19 (18.1) | 21 (20.0) | |
| No. dyslipidaemia components | 414 | ||||
| < 1‡ | 194 | 45 (23.2) | 58 (29.9) | 91 (46.9) | <0.001 |
| ≥ 1‡ | 220 | 107 (48.6) | 50 (22.7) | 63 (28.6) | |
| ALT (U/L)† | 414 | 14.0 (10.0–18.0) | 10.0 (7.0–12.0) | 4.0 (3.0–7.0) | <0.001 |
| AST (U/L)† | 414 | 15.0 (11.0–19.0) | 18.0 (14.0–21.0) | 15.0 (12.0–19.0) | 0.005 |
| γGT (U/L)† | 414 | 12.0 (9.0–18.0) | 10.0 (8.0–12.0) | 9.0 (8.0–12.0) | <0.001 |
Abbreviations: ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; BMI, body mass index; IFG, impaired fasting glucose; TChol, total cholesterol; LDL-chol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-chol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; non-HDL-chol, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; TG, tryglicerides; RLP-chol, remnant-like particle cholesterol; γGT, gamma glutamyl transferase.
1 Values are †median (interquartile range) and ‡n (%).
2 Significant differences between ALT groups by †Kruskal-Wallis test and by the ‡Kendall’s tau or χ2 test.
* TG levels were categorised as <100 or ≥100 in children aged ≤9 years, and as <130 or ≥130 in children aged 10 years.
§ High RLP-chol levels were defined as ≥P75 for boys (24.8 mg/dL) and girls (27.0 mg/dL) separately.