Table 3. Demographic and biochemical characteristics of the study sample classified according to obesity and glycemic status.

	LN-NG	OB-NG	OB-IGT	OB-T2D	P
n	40	93	46	47
Sex, M/F	7/33	37/56	21/25	22/25	0.020
Age, y	44 ± 15	49 ± 15	50 ± 16	51 ± 11	0.121
Weight, kg	66 ± 9 1010	109 ± 27*	100 ± 23*	117 ± 27*‡	<0.001
BMI, kg/m2	23.6 ± 1.1	39.2 ± 7.8*	36.8 ± 6.5*	42.0 ± 7.7*†‡	<0.001
Body fat, %	29.8 ± 6.3	48.6 ± 7.3*	47.2± 6.2*	49.3 ± 7.7*	<0.001
FFM, kg	47.0 ± 9.4	55.0 ± 12.6*	52.9± 12.8*	57.9 ± 13.4*	<0.001
FFMI, kg/m2	16.6 ± 1.7	19.8 ± 2.9*	19.3 ± 3.1*	20.8 ± 2.8*†‡	<0.001
Waist circumference, cm	84 ± 8 1010	119 ± 17*	115 ± 16*	126 ± 16*†‡	<0.001
SBP, mm Hg	114 ± 18	127 ± 17*	125 ± 13*	134 ± 16*†‡	<0.001
DBP, mm Hg	69 ± 7	80 ± 10*	77 ± 8*	83 ± 12*‡	<0.001
Glucose, mg/dL	89 ± 15	95 ± 10*	101 ± 11*†	120± 22*†‡	<0.001
Insulin, μU/mL	4.6 ± 3.6	13.8 ± 9.1*	16.7 ± 12.0*	25.0 ± 21.8*†‡	<0.001
Glucose 2 h OGTT, mg/dL	94 ± 25	113 ± 18*	164 ± 18*†	245 ± 38*†‡	<0.001
Insulin 2 h OGTT, mg/dL	56 ± 17	95 ± 64	160 ± 77*†	167 ± 77*†	<0.001
HOMA	1.0 ± 0.9	3.3 ± 2.2*	4.3 ± 3.2*	7.4 ± 6.5*†‡	<0.001
QUICKI	0.40 ± 0.05	0.33 ± 0.04*	0.33 ± 0.04*	0.30 ± 0.03*†‡	<0.001
Triglycerides, mg/dL	68 ± 29	111 ± 56*	118 ± 46*	149 ± 60*†‡	<0.001
Cholesterol, mg/dL	180 ± 34	199 ± 39*	204 ± 44*	200 ± 33*	0.017
LDL-cholesterol, mg/dL	96 ± 30	124 ± 35*	126 ± 42*	125 ± 32*	<0.001
HDL-cholesterol, mg/dL	70 ± 17	53 ± 16*	56 ± 21*	45 ± 11*†‡	<0.001
Uric acid, mg/dL	4.0 ± 1.4	5.7 ± 1.4*	5.8 ± 1.7*	6.6 ± 1.8*†‡	<0.001
CRP, mg/L	1.6 ± 3.3	9.8 ± 8.4*	7.4 ± 6.5*	10.1 ± 10.0*	<0.001
WBC, 106 cells/mL	5.3 ± 1.2	6.8 ± 2.0*	6.5 ± 1.3*	8.1 ± 2.6*†‡	<0.001
ALT, U/L	18 ± 10	22 ± 16	24 ± 12	33 ± 20*†‡	<0.001
AST, U/L	18 ± 8	17 ± 7	17 ± 7	21 ± 10†‡	0.042
AST/ALT ratio	1.10 ± 0.27	0.89 ± 0.32*	0.77 ± 0.19*†	0.73 ± 0.27*†	<0.001
γ-GT, U/L	16 ± 14	29 ± 40*	26 ± 17	44 ± 30*†‡	<0.001
Creatinine, mg/dL	0.74 ± 0.13	0.82 ± 0.20	0.84 ± 0.25	0.83 ± 0.21	0.093
Leptin, ng/mL	12.5 ± 20.3	44.4 ± 26.0*	43.0 ± 32.5*	42.7 ± 30.3*	<0.001

Data presented as mean ± SD. Individuals were matched by age and sex in the whole sample, and by body fat in the obese groups. BMI, body mass index; FFM, fat-free mass; FFMI, fat-free mass index; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; OGTT, oral glucose tolerance test; HOMA, homeostatic model assessment; QUICKI, quantitative insulin sensitivity check index; CRP, C-reactive protein; WBC, white blood cells; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; γ-GT, γ-glutamyltransferase. Differences between groups were analyzed by ANOVA followed by LSD tests. *P<0.05 vs LN-NG, †P<0.05 vs OB-NG and ‡P<0.05 vs OB-IGT. Differences in gender distribution were analyzed by χ² analysis. CRP concentrations were logarithmically transformed for statistical analysis.