Electroacupuncture alleviates symptoms and identifies a potential microbial biomarker in patients with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

Table 1 Demographic data

Characteristic	Control (n = 16)	IBS-C (n = 16)	95%CI	P value
Age (years)	34.37 ± 8.81	35.50 ± 7.52	-7.037, 4.787	0.700
Gender (female/male)	10/6	13/3		0.433
BMI (kg/m2)	23.50 (20.57-30.34)	20.96 (19.20-25.67)		0.247
Overweight, %	20	14.28		0.352
Obesity, %	33.33	21.43
Laboratory
Hb (g/dL)	13.44 ± 1.98	13.20 ± 0.58	-0.893, 1.369	0.669
Hct (%)	41.65 ± 5.00	40.21 ± 2.36	-1.576, 4.459	0.335
Platelet (cell/mL)	291285.70 ± 68977.62	286678.60 ± 59053.38	-45276.790, 54491.070	0.851
FBS (mg/dL)	88.00 (83.00-92.00)	87.50 (85.25-94.00)		0.642
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	209.57 ± 38.06	195.83 ± 35.17	-16.115, 43.591	0.606
LDL-c (mg/dL)	135.07 ± 30.12	120.26 ± 31.65	-10.230, 39.840	0.234
HDL-c (mg/dL)	56.57 ± 10.82	64.75 ± 13.23	-17.912, 1.555	0.095
LDL/HDL ratio	2.49 ± 0.78	1.96 ± 0.70	-0.075, 1.136	0.083
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	85.00 (58.50-119.75)	74.00 (51.00-183.75)		0.572
AST (U/L)	19.00 (17.75-24.25)	17.00 (16.50-23.25)		0.179
ALT (U/L)	20.00 (12.75-25.50)	13.00 (9.50-18.00)		0.092
AST/ALT ratio	1.18 ± 0.34	1.41 ± 0.57	-0.743, -0.0008	0.202

Data are presented as mean ± SD for parametric variables (numerical data), median (IQR) for non-parametric variables (numerical data), and proportion (categorical data). The groups were compared using Student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney U test or χ² test as appropriate. ALT: Alanine transaminase; AST: Aspartate transaminase; BMI: Body mass index; Hb: Hemoglobin; Hct: Hematocrit; HDL-c: High-density lipoprotein cholesterol; FBS: Fasting blood sugar; IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome; LDL-c: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.