Table 2.

Comparison between laboratory characteristics of individuals included in this work based on METAVIR fibrosis stages (n = 249)

Variablesa	Group I (n = 95), no fibrosis	Group II (n = 90), fibrosis	Group III (n = 64), cirrhosis	Tukey’s post hoc test
				Group I vs. II	Group I vs. III	Group II vs. III
Age (year)	32.26 ± 0.65	43.32 ± 1.21	54.00 ± 2.08	< 0.0001*	< 0.0001*	< 0.0001*
ALT (U/L)	22.36 ± 0.92	54.07 ± 2.45	67.87 ± 3.59	< 0.0001*	< 0.0001*	< 0.0001*
AST (U/L)	24.09 ± 1.23	56.87 ± 3.39	68.97 ± 4.35	< 0.0001*	< 0.0001*	0.014*
Total bilirubin (mg/dl)	0.71 ± 0.03	1.79 ± 0.30	1.78 ± 0.18	< 0.0001*	< 0.0001*	1.00
Albumin (g/L)	3.88 ± 0.07	3.48 ± 0.17	2.97 ± 0.11	0.030*	< 0.0001*	0.030*
Platelets (109/L)	240.06 ± 5.43	172.03 ± 22.24	130.67 ± 21.77	0.015*	< 0.0001*	0.259
AFP (U/L)	1.35 ± 0.06	37.54 ± 6.98	94.18 ± 23.95	0.001*	< 0.0001*	< 0.0001*

Variables were expressed as mean ± SEM

^aReference values: alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (male up to 41 U/L, female up to 31 U/L); aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (male up to 37 U/L, female up to 31 U/L); total bilirubin up to 1 mg/dL; albumin 3.8‑5.4 g/dL; platelet count 150‑400 × 10⁹/L; alpha fetoprotein (AFP) up to 10 U/L

*P < 0.05 is considered significant