Mild drinking habit is a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with advanced fibrosis

Table 1 Comparison of clinicopathological features at the time of biopsy between mild drinking and non-drinking groups

	Mild drinking group (n = 93)	Non-drinking group (n = 208)	P value
Age (yr)	55 (19-77)	56 (10-84)	0.50
Male	52 (56)	84 (40)	0.01
Body mass index (kg/m2)	26.5 (18.3-40.0)	26.2 (17.8-41.0)	0.53
Co-existing disease
Diabetes mellitus	32 (34)	78 (38)	0.57
Hypertension	41 (44)	81 (39)	0.44
Hyperlipidemia	55 (59)	135 (66)	0.29
Laboratory data
Albumin (mg/dL)	4.5 (3.2-5.4)	4.5 (3.0-5.2)	0.48
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.91 (0.40-2.20)	0.86 (0.38-2.64)	0.12
Aspartate aminotransferase (IU/L)	44 (20-175)	47 (13-263)	0.80
Alanine aminotransferase (IU/L)	68 (22-237)	67 (13-522)	0.74
Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (IU/L)	69 (19-400)	54 (7-544)	0.02
Cholinesterase (IU/L)	363 (171-586)	384 (189-591)	0.05
Fasting blood sugar (mg/dL)	106 (84-215)	108 (77-221)	0.63
HOMA-IR	3.4 (1.0-42.6)	3.3 (0.3-24.5)	0.58
HbA1c (%)	5.9 (5.1-9.8)	6.0 (4.9-12.3)	0.21
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	205 (138-336)	208 (70-295)	0.68
Triglyceride (mg/dL)	115 (42-404)	133 (32-801)	0.14
Platelet (×104/μL)	21.1 (5.3-45.4)	22.1 (7.2-40.7)	0.04
Hyaluronic acid (ng/mL)	43 (12-320)	49 (9-1611)	0.57
Type IV collagen 7s (ng/mL)	4.3 (2-20)	4.5 (2-11)	0.93
Alpha-fetoprotein (ng/mL)	3.3 (0.7-13.5)	3.0 (0.7-20.3)	0.41
Pathology
Steatosis			0.86
1	33 (36)	64 (31)
2	36 (39)	90 (43)
3	24 (26)	54 (26)
Lobular inflammation			0.14
0	5 (5)	8 (4)
1	47 (51)	83 (40)
2	37 (40)	95 (46)
3	4 (4)	22 (11)
Ballooning			0.82
0	18 (19)	41 (20)
1	50 (54)	118 (57)
2	25 (27)	49 (24)
NAFLD activity score			0.79
1	4 (4)	5 (2)
2	8 (9)	16 (8)
3	16 (17)	34 (16)
4	17 (18)	32 (15)
5	25 (27)	62 (30)
6	14 (15)	36 (17)
7	9 (10)	18 (9)
8	0 (0)	5 (2)
Fibrosis			0.39
0	17 (18)	40 (19)
1	39 (42)	93 (45)
2	10 (11)	25 (12)
3	18 (19)	42 (20)
4	9 (10)	8 (4)
Fibrosis 3-4 (Advanced fibrosis)	27 (29)	50 (24)	0.36
Fibrosis 4 (Cirrhosis)	9 (10)	8 (4)	0.04

Data are expressed as median (range) or n (%). HbA1c: Hemoglobin A1c; HOMA-IR: Homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance.