Serum autotaxin levels are correlated with hepatic fibrosis and ballooning in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Figure 1 Comparison of autotaxin levels between controls and all patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (A) and according to gender (B). The box plot shows the interquartile range, 95% confidence interval, and median. The difference between each group was tested with the Mann Whitney U test. ^eP < 0.001. ATX: Autotaxin; NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Figure 2 Relationship between autotaxin and histological grade in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients for steatosis (A), lobular inflammation (B), ballooning (C), and fibrosis (D). Table 1 presents the number of subjects for each histological stage. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used for multi-group simultaneous comparisons. P values are displayed in the upper left of each graph. ATX: Autotaxin; NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; NS: Not significant.

Figure 3 Relationship between autotaxin and histological grade in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients by gender for steatosis (A), lobular inflammation (B), ballooning (C), and fibrosis (D). Table 1 presents the number of subjects for each histological stage. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used for multi-group simultaneous comparisons. P values are displayed in the upper left of each graph. ATX: Autotaxin; NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; NS: Not significant.

Figure 4 Receiver operating characteristic analysis of autotaxin for the estimation of the presence of fibrosis (≥ F1), significant fibrosis (≥ F2), severe fibrosis (≥ F3), and cirrhosis (F4) in all (A), male (B), and female (C) patients. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve are displayed in the lower right of each graph. AUC: Receiver operating characteristic curve; F: Fibrosis.