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Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients with NAFLD presenting different ALT and GGT statuses

From: Normalization of γ-glutamyl transferase levels is associated with better metabolic control in individuals with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Variables

Both GGT and ALT abnormal (N = 486)

ALT Abnormal only (N = 281)

GGT Abnormal only (N = 151)

Both GGT and ALT normal (N = 130)

P

Post-hoc

1d versus 2d

1d versus 3d

1d versus 4d

2d versus 3d

2d versus 4d

3d versus 4d

Age (years)

40.4 ± 12.5

44.1 ± 13.3

48.1 ± 11.2

48.2 ± 11.6

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.04

< 0.001

0.96

Male, n (%)

370 (76.1)

162 (57.7)

126 (83.4)

86 (66.1)

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.06

0.02

< 0.001

0.10

0.001

BMI (kg/m2)

26.4 (24.4,28.1)

26.4 (24.2,28.2)

25.3 (22.0,26.7)

25.3 (23.2,27.1)

< 0.001

0.83

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.001

< 0.001

0.45

Waist-hip ratio

0.90 (0.86,0.94)

0.89 (0.85,0.92)

0.91 (0.88,0.94)

0.89 (0.84,0.92)

0.01

0.05

0.15

0.01

0.02

0.31

0.01

Smoke, n (%)

94 (19.3)

29 (10.3)

43 (28.5)

16 (12.3)

< 0.001

0.001

0.02

0.06

< 0.001

0.55

0.001

Complication, n (%)

Type 2 diabetes

37 (7.6)

22 (7.8)

5 (3.3)

13 (10.0)

0.16

      

Hypertension

153 (31.5)

89 (31.7)

43 (28.5)

36 (27.7)

0.76

      

Liver biochemistry

GGT (U/L)

88 (65,144)

32 (26,42)

78 (59,129)

24 (18,32)

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.04

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.51

< 0.001

ALT (U/L)

80 (51,125)

41 (32,58)

22 (18,26)

19 (15,25)

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.03

< 0.001

0.89

AST (U/L)

45 (33,69)

31 (25,40)

22 (20,28)

20 (18,24)

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.38

0.01

0.61

Alkaline phosphatase (U/L)

83 (69,98)

73 (62,86)

81 (71,92)

70 (56,84)

< 0.001

0.001

0.04

< 0.001

0.56

0.36

0.28

Total bilirubin (umol/L)

13.4 (10.5,17.5)

12.2 (9.9,17.4)

10.7 (9.1,16.3)

12.9 (9.7,16.5)

0.04

0.03

0.11

0.02

0.60

0.81

0.70

Direct bilirubin (umol/L)

2.6 (1.9,3.5)

2.3 (1.8,3.4)

3.1 (1.7,3.4)

2.2 (1.7,3.0)

0.01

0.02

0.05

0.01

0.48

0.47

0.78

Total bile acid (umol/L)

2.9 (1.9,5.6)

2.1 (1.4,2.8)

2.8 (2.1,3.9)

2.3 (1.6,4.0)

0.01

0.01

0.50

0.01

0.51

0.88

0.46

Lactate dehydrogenase (U/L)

197 (174,224)

190 (171,218)

175 (162,199)

187 (165,203)

0.01

0.13

0.02

0.001

0.13

0.11

0.55

Choline esterase (U/L)

8936 (7878,9943)

8903 (8041,9912)

8197 (7596,9788)

9086 (8174,9887)

0.08

      

Leucine arylamidase (U/L)

73 (65,91)

58 (51,65)

76 (65,90)

53 (49,60)

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.70

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.25

< 0.001

Glutamate dehydrogenase (U/L)

9.6 (5.3,13.9)

4.9 (2.8,7.8)

5.6 (4.2,7.4)

2.8 (2.1,4.0)

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.01

< 0.001

0.48

0.03

0.06

FIB-4 index

0.82 (0.53,1.16)

0.76 (0.55,1.12)

1.14 (0.82,1.38)

0.84 (0.61,1.15)

0.51

      

Metabolism

Uric acid (umol/L)

429 (364,493)

399 (325,463)

417 (360,482)

374 (314,440)

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.83

< 0.001

0.05

0.14

0.01

Hyperuricemia, n (%)

291 (59.9)

142 (50.5)

80 (52.9)

52 (40.0)

< 0.001

0.01

0.13

< 0.001

0.63

0.05

0.03

Cholesterol (mmol/L)

5.5 (4.9,6.2)

5.3 (4.7,5.9)

5.6 (4.7,6.4)

5.5 (4.8,6.3)

0.07

      

Hyper-cholesterol, n (%)

211 (43.4)

87 (31.0)

70 (46.4)

54 (41.5)

0.01

0.001

0.53

0.70

0.01

0.04

0.42

Triglyceride (mmol/L)

2.0 (1.4,2.6)

1.7 (1.2,2.2)

2.0 (1.5,3.2)

1.7 (1.2,2.3)

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.03

0.01

< 0.001

0.42

0.001

Hyper-triglyceride, n (%)

294 (60.5)

134 (47.7)

95 (62.9)

95 (62.9)

< 0.001

0.001

0.59

0.01

0.01

0.99

0.01

HDL-cholesterol (mmol/L)

1.1 (1.0,1.4)

1.1 (1.0,1.3)

1.1 (1.0,1.3)

1.2 (1.0,1.4)

0.58

      

LDL-cholesterol (mmol/L)

3.5 (2.9,4.0)

3.4 (2.9,4.0)

3.3 (2.7,3.9)

3.5 (2.8,4.1)

0.76

      

Free fatty acid (mmol/L)

576 (426,731)

545 (437,702)

529 (414,619)

522 (427,595)

0.61

      

Apolipoprotein-A (mmol/L)

1.2 (1.2,1.4)

1.2 (1.1,1.4)

1.3 (1.2,1.5)

1.3 (1.2,1.4)

0.50

      

Apolipoprotein-B (mmol/L)

1.0 (0.9,1.2)

1.0 (0.8,1.1)

1.0 (0.8,1.2)

1.0 (0.8,1.1)

0.13

      

Apolipoprotein-E (mmol/L)

48 (41,53)

45 (36,51)

47 (42,53)

44 (36,52)

0.18

      

Lipoprotein-a (mmol/L)

165 (76,206)

189 (72,232)

177 (64,276)

176 (78,232)

0.01

0.03

0.04

0.01

0.36

0.65

0.53

Fasting glucose (mmol/L)

5.3 (4.8,5.7)

5.2 (4.8,5.5)

5.4 (4.8,6.0)

5.2 (4.8,5.6)

0.47

      

Fasting insulin (uU/mL)

11.0 (8.5,12.8)

10.5 (8.0,12.1)

9.9 (7.2,11.0)

9.6 (6.0,11.0)

< 0.001

0.06

0.01

< 0.001

0.08

< 0.001

0.51

HOMA-IR

2.6 (1.9,3.1)

2.6 (1.8,2.8)

2.5 (1.9,2.6)

2.2 (1.4,2.6)

< 0.001

0.11

0.02

< 0.001

0.12

0.001

0.71

LFCa (%)

15.2 (9.0,23.2)

15.5 (9.8,20.9)

8.3 (6.8,14.2)

9.4 (6.9,12.7)

< 0.001

0.55

0.001

< 0.001

0.01

< 0.001

0.81

PFCb (%)

2.4 (1.6,3.6)

2.3 (1.6,3.2)

1.9 (1.7,3.2)

2.3 (1.5,3.2)

0.64

      

ASFTc (mm)

22 (17,28)

25 (20,31)

20 (17,26)

22 (18,29)

0.01

0.001

0.63

0.43

0.06

0.04

0.41

Medication metabolism

Anti-hyperlipidemic drug, n (%)

146 (30.0)

85 (30.2)

48 (31.8)

39 (30.0)

0.98

      

Anti-Diabetes drug, n (%)

31 (6.4)

17 (6.0)

5 (3.3)

8 (6.1)

0.56

      

Uric acid lowering drug, n (%)

38 (7.8)

24 (8.5)

12 (8.0)

10 (7.7)

0.98

      
  1. Data are median (first quartile, third quartile), n (%), or mean ± SD (standard deviation)
  2. Hyperuricemia was defined as uric acid level > 420 umol/L for male and > 360 umol/L for female; Hyper-cholesterol was defined as CHOL level > 5.7 mmol/L; Hyper-triglyceride was defined as TG level > 1.7 mmol/L
  3. aMean N = 610
  4. bMean N = 608
  5. cMean N = 610
  6. d1—both GGT and ALT abnormal group; 2—ALT abnormal only group; 3—GGT abnormal only group; 4—both GGT and ALT normal group