Biliary phosphatidylcholine and lysophosphatidylcholine profiles in sclerosing cholangitis

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of the four included patient groups

	Controls (n = 11)	PSC (n = 14)	SSC (n = 10)	CCC (n = 6) with PSC (n = 2)	P value
Gender (M/F)	9/2	10/4	10/0	3/3
Age at ERC (yr)	52.8 ± 6.6	41.1 ± 2.3	52.1 ± 4.0	64.5 ± 5.2	0.02; PSCa
Serum albumin level (g/L)	41.5 ± 1.5	39.2 ± 1.9	37.6 ± 3.1	34.5 ± 1.4	0.13
	(ND in 3)		(ND in 5)
Serum AP level (U/L)	221.3 ± 99.9	271.5 ± 37.1	1004 ± 304	357 ± 62.4	0.003; controlsd
	(ND in 1)		(ND in 3)
Serum bilirubin level (mg/dL)	1.6 ± 0.5	2.7 ± 0.8	5.3 ± 2.3	4.9 ± 1.9	0.39
	(ND in 1)		(ND in 2)
Sterile bile or scarce bacterial growth/moderate or abundant bacterial growth	6/5	9/5	5/5	4/1 (ND in 1)
Intake of UDCA (yes/no)	0/11	13/1	6/2	3/3
			(2 unknown)
Dominant bile duct stenosis (yes/no)	0/11	4/10	1/9	6/0
Choledocholithiasis and/or sludge (yes/no)	9/2	0/14	2/8	0/6
Diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (yes/no)	0/11	10/4	0/10	2/4

M: Male; F: Female; PSC: Primary sclerosing cholangitis; AP: Alkaline phosphatase; ERC: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography; UDCA: Ursodeoxycholic acid; ND: Not done.

^aP < 0.05 vs Cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC);

^dP < 0.01 vs Secondary sclerosing cholangitis (SSC).