Table 1.
Anthropometric and clinical characteristics of the whole population, stratified into three groups according to alanine aminotransferase levels
|
Variable
|
ALT lower than the low cut-off (n = 33)
|
ALT within the conventional and the low cut-off (n = 73)
|
ALT higher than the conventional cut-off (n = 330)
|
P
value
|
| Age (yr) | 52 ± 13.3 | 52.1 ± 12.1 | 52.5 ± 13.1 | 0.52 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 29.9 ± 4.2 | 30 ± 5.5 | 29.3 ± 4.5 | 0.23 |
| T-Cholesterol (mmol/L) | 4.2 ± 1.4 | 4.4 ± 1 | 4.7 ± 2 | 0.3 |
| HDL (mmol/L) | 1 ± 0.3 | 1.1 ± 0.3 | 1 ± 0.8 | 0.81 |
| LDL (mmol/L) | 2.4 ± 1.1 | 2.5 ± 0.9 | 2.6 ± 1 | 0.27 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.9 ± 1 | 1.6 ± 0.9 | 1.7 ± 1.4 | 0.28 |
| HbA1c (mmol/L) | 41 ± 21 | 42 ± 16 | 45 ± 15.8 | 0.75 |
| AST (IU/L) | 25 ± 8 | 31 ± 7.7 | 51 ± 37 | < 0.00011 |
| γGT (IU/L) | 32 ± 41 | 38 ± 62 | 81 ± 76 | 0.0081 |
| Platelet (109 /L) | 208 ± 70 | 225 ± 72 | 229 ± 72 | 0.39 |
| Albumin (g/L) | 40 ± 6.1 | 41 ± 3.4 | 41 ± 3.2 | 0.62 |
| Ferritin (µg/L) | 58 ± 145 | 104 ± 150 | 163 ± 120 | 0.13 |
| Male gender | 21 (65) | 52 (62) | 207 (63) | 0.13 |
| Diabetes Mellitus | 19 (58) | 46 (55) | 161 (49) | 0.12 |
| Ethnicity | ||||
| Caucasian | 17 (5) | 35 (48) | 163 (49) | 0.79 |
| Arab | 8 (24) | 11 (15) | 66 (20) | 0.31 |
| Hispanic and Latinos | 2 (6) | 5 (6) | 20 (7) | 0.99 |
| South Asian | 4 (12) | 11 (15) | 41 (12) | 0.95 |
| East Asian | 1 (3) | 6 (6) | 25 (7) | 0.26 |
| African/Afrocaribbean | 1 (3) | 5 (6) | 15 (4) | 0.73 |
| Hypertension | 15 (45) | 33 (39) | 112 (34) | 0.2 |
| Dyslipidemia | 13 (39) | 37 (44) | 141 (43) | 0.93 |
| Statin treatment | 14 (42) | 34 (46) | 152 (46) | 0.54 |
1
Significantly different. Data present as mean ± SD or n (%). ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; BMI: Body mass index; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; HbA1c: Hemoglobin A1C; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase.