Low bone mineral density and the severity of cholestasis in biliary atresia

Table 2 Comparison of clinical characteristics and laboratory parameters among biliary atresia patients with normal, osteopenic, and osteoporotic bone mineral density Z-scores at the lumbar spine

Characteristics	Normal	Osteopenia	Osteoporosis	P-value
n	34	18	18
Gender (male/female)	15/19	7/11	8/10	0.3
Age (yr)	8.2 ± 0.7	7.7 ± 1.1	6.5 ± 1.0	0.4
Albumin (g/dL)	4.1 ± 0.2	4.0 ± 0.1	3.3 ± 0.2	< 0.05
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	1.0 ± 0.2	2.8 ± 0.7	10.0 ± 2.1	< 0.001
Direct bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.4 ± 0.1	1.6 ± 0.5	7.3 ± 1.7	< 0.001
AST (IU/L)	95.6 ± 13.7	177.1 ± 24.8	221.2 ± 31.2	< 0.001
ALT (IU/L)	104.2 ± 18.2	164.6 ± 23.7	156.8 ± 25.1	< 0.001
ALP (IU/L)	429.1 ± 55.7	538.4 ± 55.2	602.3 ± 71.3	0.08
25(OH)D (ng/mL)	33.2 ± 0.7	26.3 ± 0.5	14.3 ± 1.5	< 0.01
Lumbar BMD (g/cm2)	0.6 ± 0.0	0.5 ± 0.0	0.4 ± 0.0	< 0.001

Data are expressed as mean and SEM. ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; BA: Biliary atresia; BMD: Bone mineral density; 25(OH)D: 25-hydroxyvitamin D.