Table 2.

Subgroup characteristics of patients with liver cirrhosis

Variable	HVPG			HVPG			MELD
	≥12 (n = 33)	<12 (n = 25)	P value	≥10 (n = 38)	<10 (n = 20)	P value	≥15 (n = 12)	<15 (n = 46)	P value
Age, mean ± SD	53 ± 7	49.4 ± 8.7	0.125	52.2 ± 7.4	50.3 ± 8.9	0.583	51.5 ± 7.9	51.6 ± 8	0.992
Gender (Female)	17 (51.5%)	6 (24%)	0.034	18 (47.4%)	5 (25%)	0.098	6 (50%)	17 (37%)	0.41
Etiology (Alcohol)	20 (60.6%)	8 (32%)	0.031	22 (57.9%)	6 (30%)	0.043	10 (83.3%)	18 (39.1%)	0.006
On lactulose	33 (100%)	11 (44%)	<0.001	38 (100%)	6 (30%)	<0.001	12 (100%)	32 (69.6%)	<0.001
On PPI	16 (48.5%)	7 (28%)	0.114	17 (44.7%)	6 (30%)	0.275	7 (58.3%)	16 (34.8%)	0.137
Cytokine levels
FABP2 peripheral (pg/ml)	486.1 ± 186.8	339.6 ± 169.1	0.003	480.5 ± 194	313.6 ± 135.7	0.001	518.1 ± 167.2	398.1 ± 192.2	0.039
LPS peripheral (pg/ml)	176 ± 84	167.4 ± 97.3	0.712	181.7 ± 87	154.4 ± 93	<0.001	224.2 ± 95.3	158.7 ± 83.5	0.03
IL-6 peripheral (pg/ml)	10.9 ± 15.6	6.7 ± 10.3	0.451	11 ± 15.9	5.5 ± 6.9	<0.001	28.8 ± 17.5	4 ± 5.5	<0.001
IL-8 peripheral (pg/ml)	38.6 ± 21.3	24.5 ± 14.1	0.003	35.7 ± 20.5	23.1 ± 14.2	<0.001	58.2 ± 21.1	24.4 ± 11.1	<0.001
FABP2 hepatic vein (pg/ml)	698.2 ± 470.2	391 ± 292.7	0.002	689.7 ± 475.7	330.4 ± 146.6	0.001	665.6 ± 424.6	539.8 ± 430.5	0.249
LPS hepatic vein (pg/ml)	104 ± 68.6	92.3 ± 55.5	0.525	101 ± 67.5	95.2 ± 54.9	0.793	115.7 ± 77.1	94.7 ± 59.1	0.291
IL-6 hepatic vein (pg/ml)	11.6 ± 22.6	7.8 ± 12.7	0.759	11.2 ± 21.2	7.5 ± 13.9	0.377	22.7 ± 33.3	6.6 ± 11.4	0.011
IL-8 hepatic vein (pg/ml)	16.1 ± 23.5	8.9 ± 11.6	0.517	15.3 ± 22.2	8.8 ± 12.2	0.454	23.3 ± 28.3	10.3 ± 15.8	0.053

SD – Standard deviation; MELD – Model of End-Stage Liver Disease; HVPG – Hepatic venous pressure gradient; PPI – Proton pump inhibitors; FABP2 – Fatty acid-binding protein 2; LPS – Lipopolysaccharide; IL – Interleukin.

Wilcoxon ranked-sum and Chi square tests were used to compare groups.