Clinical and genetic features of patients included in the study cohorts
| Normal liver/isolated steatosis (n=94) | Severe NAFLD (n=31) | P value | ||
| Transcriptomic cohort | Age | 43.3±10.6 | 44.5±10.3 | 0.58 |
| Sex, F | 86 (91) | 21 (68) | 0.002 | |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 39.7±6.7 | 43.5±8.3 | 0.02 | |
| Diabetes, Yes | 10 (11) | 5 (17) | 0.4 | |
| ALT, U/L | 18 {14–24} | 31 {24–44} | <0.001 | |
| AST, U/L | 17 {15–20} | 23 {19–31} | <0.001 | |
| Steatosis grade 0/1/2/3 | 21/47/21/5 (22/50/22/5) | 0/1/7/23 (0/3/23/74) | <0.001 | |
| Inflammation grade 0/1/2/3 | 61/32/1/0 (65/34/1/0) | 2/19/10/0 (6/61/32/0) | <0.001 | |
| Ballooning grade 0/1/2 | 93/1/0 (99/1/0) | 17/13/1 (55/42/3) | <0.001 | |
| Fibrosis stage 0/1/2/3/4 | 80/14/0/0/0 (85/15/0/0/0) | 2/21/5/1/1 (7/70/17/3/3) | <0.001 | |
| Cholesterol, mg/dL | 212±44 | 197±51 | 0.2 | |
| LDL, mg/dL | 136±33 | 120±47 | 0.1 | |
| HDL, mg/dL | 55±13 | 52±17 | 0.32 | |
| Triglycerides, mg/dL* | 120 {90–161} | 114 {85–175} | 0.6 | |
| PNPLA3 I148M CC/CG/GG | 48/40/6 (51/43/6) | 12/16/3 (39/52/10) | 0.23 |
| Normal liver/isolated steatosis (n=46) | Severe NAFLD (n=25) | P value | ||
| Bariatric surgery cohort | Age | 42.5±9.3 | 42.6±12.5 | 0.97 |
| Sex, F | 40 (87) | 20 (80) | 0.44 | |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 38.5±6.7 | 43.4±6.7 | 0.01 | |
| Diabetes, Yes | 4 (9) | 5 (22) | 0.16 | |
| ALT, U/L | 17 {13–21} | 26 {20–43} | 0.001 | |
| AST, U/L | 17 {15–21} | 24 {19–28} | <0.001 | |
| Steatosis grade 0/1/2/3 | 18/16/6/6 (39/35/13/13) | 0/4/9/12 (0/16/36/48) | <0.001 | |
| Inflammation grade 0/1/2/3 | 31/15/0 (67/33/0) | 2/17/6 (8/68/24) | <0.001 | |
| Ballooning grade 0/1/2 | 44/2/0 (96/4/0) | 10/15/0 (40/60/0) | <0.001 | |
| Fibrosis stage 0/1/2/3/4 | 39/7/0/0/0 (85/15/0/0/0) | 7/16/2/0/0 (28/64/8/0/0) | <0.001 | |
| Cholesterol, mg/dL | 195±34 | 193±28 | 0.85 | |
| LDL, mg/dL | 125±28 | 111±26 | 0.18 | |
| HDL, mg/dL | 53±12 | 55±17 | 0.69 | |
| Triglycerides, mg/dL* | 86 {65–114} | 114 {83–140} | 0.17 | |
| PNPLA3 I148M CC/CG/GG | 28/13/5 (61/28/11) | 9/11/5 (36/44/20) | 0.06 | |
| Normal liver/isolated steatosis (n=88) | Severe NAFLD, Yes (n=72) | P value | ||
| Age | 46.8±11.4 | 52.2±12.8 | 0.01 | |
| Sex, F | 71 (80.7) | 61 (84.7) | 0.50 | |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 26.3±3.3 | 29.99±5.38 | <0.001 | |
| Diabetes, Yes | 8 (9.3) | 31 (43.1) | <0.001 | |
| ALT, U/L | 42 {25–62} | 60.00 {37–80} | 0.002 | |
| AST, U/L | 26 {22–35} | 35 {29–47} | 0.001 | |
| Steatosis grade 0/1/2/3 | 18/51/19/0 (20/58/22/0) | 0/15/25/32 (0/21/35/44) | <0.001 | |
| Hepatology service cohort | Inflammation grade 0/1/2/3 | 47/39/2/0 (53/44/2/0) | 4/33/34/1 (6/46/47/1) | <0.001 |
| Ballooning grade 0/1/2 | 81/7/0 (92/8/0) | 27/31/14 (38/43/19) | <0.001 | |
| Fibrosis stage 0/1/2/3/4 | 58/30/0/0/0 (66/34/0/0/0) | 6/16/23/12/15 (8/22/32/17/21) | <0.001 | |
| Cholesterol, mg/dL | 202.51±43.7 | 195.68±43.1 | 0.34 | |
| LDL, mg/dL | 122.29±41.9 | 116.52±39.54 | 0.39 | |
| HDL, mg/dL | 54.06±15.8 | 49.12±16.5 | 0.07 | |
| Triglycerides, mg/dL* | 116 {65–168} | 127 {87–187} | 0.08 | |
| PNPLA3 I148M CC/CG/GG | 36/38/14 (41/43/16) | 17/36/19 (24/50/26) | 0.02 |
Data are presented as mean±SD, (): % values, {}: IQR. Comparison was performed by generalised linear models, and non-normally distributed variables were log-transformed before the analysis.
BMI, body max index; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; PNPLA3, patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3.