Table 2.
Demographic, clinical, and laboratory parameters in relation to an ordinal model of fibrosis stage assessed by univariate analysisa.
| Parameter | No fibrosis (n = 156) | Fibrosis stage | p valuea | Adjusted for conventional vs. morbidly obeseb | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I (n = 122) | II (n = 32) | III (n = 22) | IV (n = 36) | ||||
| Demographics/underlying conditions | |||||||
| Age (years) | 37 (32–55) | 52 (32–59) | 54 (43–63) | 67 (53–73) | 61 (50–66) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Sex (females) | 95 (61%) | 66 (54%) | 20 (63%) | 12 (55%) | 17 (47%) | 0.197 | 0.776 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 46.0 (38.3–54.5) | 45.1 (31.3–53.0) | 31.6 (28.2–51.2) | 30.9 (26.5–36.5) | 33.3 (28.3–42.1) | <0.001 | 0.309 |
| Diabetes/IFG, n (%) | 63 (40) | 57 (47) | 18 (56) | 13 (59) | 28 (78) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Arterial hypertension, n (%) | 87 (56) | 74 (61) | 15 (47) | 18 (82) | 32 (89) | <0.01 | <0.001 |
| Cholesterol ≥200 mg/dl, n (%) | 55 (35) | 55 (45) | 17 (53) | 8 (36) | 8 (22) | 0.77 | 0.346 |
| Triglycerides ≥170 mg/dl, n (%) | 76 (49) | 72 (59) | 22 (69) | 15 (68) | 18 (50) | 0.06 | <0.05 |
| Laboratory parameters | |||||||
| AST, IU/l (IQR) | 21 (16–29) | 31 (20–49) | 64 (35–94) | 46 (36–73) | 61 (38–75) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| ALT, IU/l (IQR) | 30 (19–50) | 45 (27–76) | 79 (43–151) | 51 (41–103) | 61 (40–83) | <0.001 | 0.081 |
| Albumin, mg/dl (IQR) | 39 (36–41) | 39 (37–42) | 39 (37–43) | 39 (36–43) | 37 (35–40) | 0.056 | <0.001 |
| Bilirubin, mg/dl (IQR)c | 0.4 (0.3–0.6) | 0.5 (0.3–0.6) | 0.4 (0.4–0.6) | 0.5 (0.3–0.8) | 0.6 (0.5–1.0) | 0.16 | 0.898 |
| Platelets, 109/l (IQR) | 293 (243–340) | 278 (239–331) | 240 (200–306) | 231 (204–283) | 186 (100–239) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| INR (IQR)d | 1.0 (0.9–1.0) | 1.0 (0.9–1.0) | 1.0 (0.9–1.0) | 1.1 (1.0–1.2) | 1.1 (1.0–1.2) | 0.279 | 0.483 |
| Non-invasive fibrosis assessment tools | |||||||
| NAFLD Fibrosis Score | –1.1 (–2.1 to 0.2) | –1.0 (–2.3 to 0.0) | –0.7 (–2.1 to 0.5) | –0.2 (–1.6 to 0.4) | 1.3 (0.6 to 2.2) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| FIB-4 Score | 0.5 (0.4–0.8) | 0.6 (0.5–0.9) | 1.2 (0.7–2.0) | 1.7 (1.0–2.7) | 3.1 (1.7–4.7) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| AST/ALT Ratio | 0.7 (0.5–0.9) | 0.6 (0.5–0.8) | 0.6 (0.5–0.9) | 0.8 (0.7–1.0) | 1.0 (0.8–1.2) | <0.01 | <0.01 |
| APRI Score | 0.15 (0.10–0.22) | 0.21 (0.14–0.41) | 0.60 (0.25–0.91) | 0.41 (0.29–0.86) | 0.77 (0.37–1.24) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| BARD Score | 2 (1–3) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–3) | 2 (2–3) | 3 (2–4) | <0.01 | <0.001 |
BMI body mass index, IFG impaired fasting glucose, INR international normalized ratio, NAFLD means non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, FIB-4 fibrosis 4 score, AST aspartate aminotransferase, ALT alanine aminotransferase, APRI aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index.
aComparisons were made by univariate ordinal regression analysis.
bComparisons were made by ordinal regression analysis with group-membership (conventional vs. morbidly obese NAFLD) and the respective parameter as predictors.
cAvailable in 293 patients (80%).
dAvailable in 346 patients (94%).