Table 1. Characteristics of included studies focused on circulating levels of fetuin-A in this meta-analysis and systematic review.
| Study (Year) | Country | Region | Study design | Age | Sample size | Tissue type | Fetuin-A measurement method | NAFLD diagnosis method | NOS, 0–9 score | AHRQ, 0–11 score | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reinehr et al. (2008) | Germany | European | Cross-sectional | Pediatric/Adolescent | 48 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 6 | ||
| Yilmaz et al. (2010) | Turkey | Eurasian | Case-control | Adult | 174 | Serum | ELISA | Liver biopsy | 7 | ||
| Haukeland et al. (2012) | Norway | European | Cross-sectional | Adult | 242 | Plasma | ELISA | Liver biopsy | 4 | ||
| Ou et al. (2012) | Chinese | Asian | Cross-sectional | Adult | 510 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 6 | (1) | |
| Ballestri et al. (2013) | Italy | European | Cross-sectional | Adult | 70 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 5 | (2) | |
| Dogru et al. (2013) | Turkey | Eurasian | Cross-sectional | Adult | 189 | Plasma | ELISA | Liver biopsy | 5 | (3) | |
| Kahraman et al. (2013) | Germany | European | Cross-sectional | Adult | 118 | Serum | ELISA | Liver biopsy | 4 | ||
| Lebensztejn et al. (2014) | Poland | European | Cross-sectional | Paediatric/Adolescent | 45 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 5 | ||
| Rametta et al. (2014) | Italy | European | Cross-sectional | Adult | 397 | Serum | ELISA | Liver biopsy | 7 | ||
| Sato et al. (2015) | Japanese | Asian | Cross-sectional | Adult | 295 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 5 | ||
| Wong et al. (2015) | Chinese | Asian | Case-control | Adult | 920 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 5 | ||
| Celebi et al. (2015) | Turkey | Eurasian | Cross-sectional | Adult | / | Plasma | ELISA | Liver biopsy | 5 | (3) | |
| Cui et al. (2017) | Chinese | Asian | Case-control | Adult | 158 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 5 | ||
| Siraz et al. (2017) | Turkey | Eurasian | Cross-sectional | Paediatric/Adolescent | 80 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 6 | ||
| Pampanini et al. (2018) | Italy | European | Cross-sectional | Paediatric/Adolescent | 183 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 6 | (1) | |
| Mondal et al. (2018) | India | Asian | Cross-sectional | Adult | 188 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound | 6 | (2) | |
| Nascimbeni et al. (2018) | Italy | European | Cross-sectional | Adult | 149 | Serum | ELISA | Ultrasound Liver biopsy | 6 | (4) |
(1) All participants were prediabetic. (2) All participants were suspected cases of coronary heart disease. (3) The two studies were conducted on the same subjects, with the former study investigating the circulating fetuin-A levels between NAFLD patients and healthy controls, and the latter study investigating the circulating fetuin-A levels between NASH and NAFL patients, and fibrosis and no fibrosis patients. (4) The study investigated fetuin-A levels in 81 obese children with NAFLD diagnosed by biopsy, 79 obese children with NAFLD defined by liver ultrasonography, and 23 lean subjects. In order to make a better analysis, we made two groups: one was for comparison between obese NAFLD and non-NAFLD patients verified by ultrasound; the other one was for comparison between obese NAFLD verified by liver biopsy and characterized as lean healthy.
Abbreviation: ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.