Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score is a useful tool for carotid atherosclerosis screening in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Table 2 Characteristics of patients with obstructive sleep apnea according to carotid atherosclerosis, n (%)/mean ± SD

Features	OSA without carotid plaque (n = 67)	OSA with carotid plaque (n = 45)	P value
Age (years)	56.30 ± 7.72	62.22 ± 8.79	> 0.001
Gender			0.237
Women	22 (32.8)	20 (44.4)
Men	45 (67.2)	25 (55.6)
Body mass index (kg/m2)	29.87 ± 5.52	31.04 ± 6.16	0.297
Arterial hypertension	25 (37.3)	34 (75.6)	> 0.001
Previous history of CVD	2 (3.0)	10 (22.2)	0.003
Current smoking	10 (14.9)	14 (31.1)	0.059
Diabetes mellitus type 2	9 (13.4)	7 (15.6)	0.788
Glucose (mg/dL)	107.43 ± 36.34	102.87 ± 16.26	0.684
Insulin levels (μU/L)	17.34 ± 14.93	16.96 ± 10.45	0.870
HOMA-IR score	5.46 ± 10.24	4.64 ± 3.45	0.959
Glycated Hb (%)	5.71 ± 0.83	5.68 ± 0.59	0.741
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	143.43 ± 88.10	130.93 ± 71.54	0.481
Total cholesterol	196.45 ± 30.34	185.93 ± 37.71	0.106
HDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	52.70 ± 16.59	56.69 ± 21.33	0.269
LDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	117.21 ± 30.02	99.78 ± 34.73	0.006
VLDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	28.30 ± 15.63	26.18 ± 14.38	0.411
Creatinine (mg/dL)	0.88 ± 0.18	0.92 ± 0.19	0.244
Glomerular filtration rate (mL/minute/1.73 m2)	88.93 ± 15.06	80.31 ± 16.22	0.005
ALT (IU/L)	25.34 ± 15.55	23.76 ± 12.57	0.846
AST (IU/L)	22.03 ± 8.54	23.84 ± 15.18	0.671
GGT (IU/L)	35.94 ± 26.64	32.24 ± 24.47	0.870
Iron (μg/dL)	88.67 ± 24.33	87.69 ± 34.72	0.200
Ferritin (ng/mL)	141.73 ± 99.48	147.14 ± 93.01	0.775
Transferrin (mg/dL)	252.55 ± 36.01	244.98 ± 37.26	0.284
Alkaline phosphatase (IU/L)	68.07 ± 19.66	64.24 ± 17.24	0.291
Lactate dehydrogenase (U/L)	179.13 ± 33.73	195.59 ± 39.17	0.023
Albumin (g/dL)	4.52 ± 0.25	4.32 ± 0.27	> 0.001
Platelets (109/L)	238.30 ± 50.51	213.00 ± 53.21	0.012
C reactive protein (mg/L)	0.38 ± 0.42	0.34 ± 0.41	0.612

OSA: Obstructive sleep apnea; CVD: Cardiovascular disease; HOMA-IR: Homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance; Hb: Hemoglobin; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; VLDL: Very low-density lipoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyltransferase.