Table 1.

Activin A and follistatin levels in study groups, unadjusted and after sequential adjustment for potential cofounders.

	Lean controls	Obese controls	SS	NASH	p-value for trend*
Patients/Women (N)	24 / 20	28 / 20	15 / 10	16 / 13	0.58
Unadjusted
Activin A (pg/ml)	356 ± 25	360 ± 20	407 ± 28	514 ± 70	0.010
Follistatin (ng/ml)	1.11 ± 0.08	1.00 ± 0.07	0.86 ± 0.07	1.03 ± 0.04	0.13
Model 1 (adjusted mutually)
Activin A (pg/ml)	359 ± 32	359 ± 29	401 ± 42	518 ± 40	0.009
Follistatin (ng/ml)	1.09 ± 0.08	0.99 ± 0.07	0.85 ± 0.10	1.16 ± 0.10	0.13
Model 2 (adjusted mutually and for age)
Activin A (pg/ml)	357 ± 31	365 ± 28	402 ± 40	509 ± 39	0.014
Follistatin (ng/ml)	1.09 ± 0.08	1.00 ± 0.07	0.85 ± 0.10	1.16 ± 0.10	0.15
Model 3 (adjusted mutually and for age and gender)
Activin A (pg/ml)	356 ± 31	365 ± 28	403 ± 41	509 ± 39	0.014
Follistatin (ng/ml)	1.09 ± 0.08	1.00 ± 0.07	0.85 ± 0.10	1.16 ± 0.10	0.16
Model 4 (adjusted mutually and for age, gender and BMI)
Activin A (pg/ml)	393 ± 25	359 ± 19	397 ± 28	405 ± 29	0.43
Follistatin (ng/ml)	1.06 ± 0.10	1.02 ± 0.07	0.87 ± 0.11	1.19 ± 0.11	0.18
Model 5 (adjusted mutually and for age, gender and waist circumference)
Activin A (pg/ml)	369 ± 28	363 ± 20	402 ± 30	410 ± 31	0.17
Follistatin (ng/ml)	1.11 ± 0.10	1.00 ± 0.07	0.84 ± 0.11	1.12 ± 0.12	0.20
Model 6 (adjusted mutually and for age, gender and leptin)
Activin A (pg/ml)	408 ± 28	369 ± 24	386 ± 35	438 ± 35	0.39
Follistatin (ng/ml)	1.11 ± 0.09	1.00 ± 0.07	0.85 ± 0.10	1.14 ± 0.11	0.15

Data are estimated marginal mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) or absolute numbers.

^*Between groups comparison (Analysis of covariance; ANCOVA).

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; NASH, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; SS, simple steatosis.