Liver fat accumulation measured by high-speed T2-corrected multi-echo magnetic resonance spectroscopy can predict risk of cholelithiasis

Table 1 Demographic, anthropometric, biochemical, and magnetic resonance imaging parameters in patients with cholelithiasis and healthy controls

Characteristic	Cholelithiasis (n = 40)	Control (n = 31)	P value
Demographic
Age (yr)	54.8 ± 14.6	50.6 ± 14.3	0.235
Women	42.5% (17/40)	32.3% (10/31)	0.463
Anthropometric
Waist circumference (cm)	85.3 ± 9.0	81.0 ± 6.9	0.030a
Biochemical
ALT (U/L)	84.6 ± 115.9	69.5 ± 156.2	0.2261
AST (U/L)	61.0 ± 94.9	52.9 ± 75.5	0.3301
TBIL (µmol/L)	29.4 ± 56.6	19.5 ± 17.6	0.9211
GGT (U/L)	246.3 ± 317.8	103.8 ± 146.4	0.0371, a
ALP (U/L)	146.3 ± 122.8	125.2 ± 92.1	0.3821
Serum uric acid (µmol/L)	332.0 ± 121.0	375.9 ± 107.4	0.1901
Serum uric glucose (mmol/L)	5.6 ± 1.7	6.3 ± 3.6	0.6061
Total cholesterol (mg/L)	5.2 ± 1.5	5.1 ± 1.2	0.6621
Triglycerides (mmol/L)	2.0 ± 1.7	1.2 ± 0.5	0.0741
Serum iron (µmol/L)	13.8 ± 6.2	18.0 ± 6.5	0.068
Serum iron saturation (%)	28.1 ± 12.0	35.4 ± 11.3	0.085
Serum ferritin (ug/L)	496.3 ± 335.0	328.5 ± 302.3	0.0741
Transferrin (g/L)	2.0 ± 0.4	2.1 ± 0.5	0.698
Hemoglobin (g/L)	127.8 ± 19.6	128.5 ± 19.4	0.886
MRI
PDFF (%)	5.8 ± 4.2	3.3 ± 2.4	0.0011, a
R2 (/s)	50.4 ± 24.8	38.3 ± 8.8	0.0341, a

Variables are presented as the mean ± SD.

^aIndicates significant difference; Data were compared by either Student’s t-test or non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test (¹Indicates Mann-Whitney U-test). ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; TBIL: Total bilirubin; GGT: Gamma glutamyl transpeptidase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging; PDFF: Proton density fat fraction.

Table 2 Results of univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses

Variable	Univariate analysis		Multivariate analysis
	Odds ratio (95%CI)	P value	Odds ratio (95%CI)	P value
PDFF	1.33 (1.07-1.65)	< 0.01	1.79 (1.22-2.62)	0.003a
R2	1.05 (1.01-1.10)	< 0.05	-	-
WC	1.07 (1.01-1.14)	< 0.05	-	-
GGT	1.01 (1.00-.1.01)	< 0.05	-	-

^aIndicates significant difference. CI: Confidence interval; PDFF: Proton density fat fraction; WC: Waist circumference; GGT: Gamma glutamyl transpeptidase.