Soluble forms of extracellular cytokeratin 18 may differentiate simple steatosis from nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Table 1 General and biochemical characteristics of patients with suspected NAFLD

Characteristic	Entire cohort(n = 83)	Definitive NASH(n = 45)	Borderline NASH(n = 24)	Simple steatosis(n = 9)	Normal tissue(n = 5)
Male gender	54.2%	62.2%	50.0%	44.4%	20.0%
Age (yr)	48.9 ± 9.1	47.8 ± 8.8	48.7 ± 6.2	53.1 ± 10.1	52.4 ± 19.2
Body mass index (kg/m2)	30.3 ± 4.8	30.2 ± 4.1	31.1 ± 6.5	29.5 ± 3.7	28.0 ± 3.0
Waist circumference (cm)	99 ± 9	101 ± 8	100 ± 9	94 ± 10	93 ± 11
Waist/hip ratio	0.93 (0.01-1.08)	0.95 (0.09-1.08)	0.93 (0.09-1.02)	0.8 (0.74-1.05)	0.86 (0.01-0.87)
Hypertension	33.7%	28.9%	50%	22.2%	20%
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	122 ± 13	124 ± 13	121 ± 13	121 ± 16	115 ± 11
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	77 ± 10	80 ± 9	76 ± 11	71 ± 10	72 ± 9
Diabetes mellitus	14.5%	13.3%	16.7%	22.2%	0%
Fasting glucose (mg/dL)	103 ± 22	102 ± 21	105 ± 25	109 ± 25	93 ± 7
Fasting insulin (μU/mL)1	24 (1-298)	34 (3-298)	21 (1-281)	20 (1-110)	11 (1-16)
HOMA index	3.0 (0.2-16.5)	3.1 (0.3-16.5)	2.9 (0.3-8.1)	2.6 (0.2-4.9)	2.3 (1.6-3.8)
Hyperlipidemia history	83.1%	80.0%	91.7%	77.8%	80%
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	213 ± 40	213 ± 44	224 ± 31	190 ± 27	199 ± 49
Triglycerides (mg/dL)1	149 (38-424)	151 (38-424)	164 (90-398)	102 (49-286)	149 (44-182)
Metabolic syndrome	34.9%	37.8%	33.3%	33.3%	20.0%
Lp(a) (mg/dL)1	10 (2-157)	9 (2-98)	20 (2-157)	6 (2-68)	19 (5-32)
Microalbuminuria (μg/mL)1	1.0 (0.2-48.4)	4.2 (0.2-48.4)	0.7 (0.2-3.8)	0.65 (0.3-8.9)	0.4 (0.2-1.0)
AST (IU/L)1	42 (16-102)	44 (18-95)	33 (16-102)	32 (17-65)	28 (19-91)
ALT (IU/L)1	60 (10-184)	68 (23-184)	47 (12-146)	47 (19-84)	35 (10-149)
AST/ALT ratio	0.68 (0.34-1.90)	0.65 (0.34-0.95)	0.71 (0.45-1.42)	0.77 (0.59-1.21)	0.8 (0.6-1.9)
ALP (UI/L)1	82 (19-154)	84 (44-152)	85 (43-132)	94 (19-154)	76 (61-131)
GGT (UI/L)1	47 (15-526)	52 (16-526)	29 (15-199)	65 (22-164)	73 (17-124)
LDH (UI/L)1	196 (132-379)	198 (143-375)	193 (132-295)	184 (163-379)	171 (152-340)
Total Bilirubin (mg/dL)1	0.7 (0.1-2.5)	0.7 (0.1-2.5)	0.6 (0.1-1.7)	0.5 (0.1-0.8)	0.8 (0.4-2.1)
HbA1c	5.6 (4.6-9.9)%	5.7 (4.7-9.9)%	5.5 (4.6-7.7)%	5.6 (5.1-7.4)%	5.5 (5.4-6.2)%
Transferrin saturation	19 (2-48)%	20 (2-48)%	17 (5-29)%	23.5 (11-44)%	18 (8-28)%
Ferritin (ng/mL)1	77 (6-406)	93 (6-399)	69 (12-297)	96 (10-406)	23 (9-61)
Positive ANA	21.6%	23.9%	20.8%	0%	40.0%
Positive AMA	1.2%	2.1%	0%	0%	0%
Positive ASMA	7.2%	4.3%	4.4%	0%	20.0%
Positive LKM-1	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%

¹Data expressed as median (minimum-maximum); HOMA: homeostasis model assessment; HDL: high-density lipoprotein; Lp(a): lipoprotein(a); AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; GGT: gamma glutamyl transpeptidase; LDH: lactate dehydrogenase; HbA1c: glycated hemoglobin; ANA: antinuclear antibodies; AMA: antimitochondrial antibodies; ASMA: anti-smooth muscle antibody; LKM-1, liver-kidney microsomal antigen.