Table 1. Demographic and laboratory characteristics of cohort.
Values are median (range) or n (%).
| Variable | Total cohort (n = 158) | No/mild fibrosis (n = 120) | Advanced fibrosis (n = 38) | p no/mild vs. advanced fibrosis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (yrs) | 60 (19–83) | 59 (19–83) | 62 (49–80) | 0.01* |
| Male (n;%) | 117 (74%) | 95 (79%) | 22 (57%) | 0.02* |
| Diabetes | 82 (52%) | 54 (45%) | 28 (74%) | 0.018* |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 28.7 (20.2–49.5) | 28.0 (20.2–49.5) | 29.4 (23.4–44.1) | 0.12 |
| Overweight | 76 (48%) | 50 (42%) | 18 (47%) | 0.37 |
| Obese | 62 (39%) | 39 (47%) | 16 (42%) | 0.35 |
| AST (U/L) | 38 (10–153) | 34 (10–108) | 53 (21–153) | <0.001*# |
| ALT (U/L) | 58 (17–198) | 55 (17–198) | 60 (18–162) | 0.29 |
| AST/ALT ratio | 0.7 (0.3–1.9) | 0.7 (0.3–1.6) | 0.9 (0.4–1.9) | <0.001*# |
| GGT (U/L) | 63 (12–504) | 55 (12–504) | 96 (22–492) | 0.07* |
| ALP (U/L) | 100 (30–470) | 82 (30–470) | 112 (34–323) | 0.29 |
| Bilirubin (mg/dL) | 11 (3–48) | 11 (5–48) | 12 (3–42) | 0.13 |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 4.1 (2.9–4.9) | 4.1 (3.1–4.9) | 3.9 (2.9–4.9) | <0.001*# |
| Platelet count (x109/L) | 221 (85–476) | 230 (85–476) | 195 (88–336) | 0.011* |
| Prothrombin (INR) | 1.0 (0.8–1.3) | 1.0 (0.8–1.2) | 1.0 (0.9–1.3) | 0.02* |
| Ferritin (μg/L) | 192 (5.0–1804) | 186 (14–1804) | 223 (5–723) | 0.51 |
| Transferrin (g/L) | 2.3 (1.6–5.2) | 2.2 (1.6–5.2) | 2.4 (1.6–4.1) | 0.87 |
| Transferrin saturation | 0.27 (0.09–0.55) | 0.33 (0.09–0.55) | 0.38 (0.16–0.35) | 0.58 |
| Glucose (mmol/L) | 7.2 (3.8–18) | 6.0 (3.8–15.7) | 7.9 (5.3–18) | <0.001*# |
| Cholesterol (mg/dL) | 187 (93–320) | 195 (93–323) | 169 (113–320) | 0.037* |
| HDL (mg/dL) | 43 (12–174) | 46 (12–174) | 35 (31–120) | 0.08 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 125 (43–507) | 123 (43–481) | 165 (85–507) | 0.07 |
| HA (μg/L) | 45 (6–795) | 38.5 (6–795) | 104 (12–356) | <0.001*# |
| P3NP (μg/L) | 7.7 (2.0–28) | 7.0 (2.0–28) | 10.2 (3.9–23) | <0.001*# |
| TIMP 1 (μg/L) | 248 (70–735) | 241 (70–591) | 302 (132–735) | <0.001*# |
| Steatosis (grade) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 0.15 |
| Lobular inflammation (grade) | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–3) | 1 (0–3) | <0.001*# |
| Ballooning (grade) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–2) | 0.5 (0–2) | <0.001*# |
| NAS | 2 (1–7) | 2 (1–7) | 3.5 (1–7) | 0.007* |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; GGT, gamma glutamyltransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; INR, international normalized ratio; HDL, high density lipoprotein; HA, hyaluronic acid; P3NP, aminoterminal peptide of pro-collagen III; TIMP-1, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1; NAS, NAFLD Activity Score.
*p <0.05
#Significant differences after using the Bonferroni correction for 30 comparisons. This resulted in adjustment of the p-value denoting significant differences from 0.05 to 0.0017.
Variables age, albumin, platelet count, and cholesterol were normally distributed. For these variables comparisons were performed with Student’s t test. The remaining continuous variables were compared with the Mann–Whitney U test. The χ2 test was used to compare categorical variables.