Characteristics of the discovery, validation and whole cohorts
| Variable name | Discovery 100 subjects | Validation 150 subjects | Whole 250 subjects | ||||
| Mean (SD) | (1st–3rd IQR) | Mean (SD) | (1st–3rd IQR) | Mean (SD) | (1st–3rd IQR) | P value | |
| Age | 46.93 (10.54) | (40–54) | 43.39 (11.91) | (33–53) | 44.81 (11.49) | (36–53) | 0.014 |
| Weight (kg) | 117.14 (22.07) | (103.5–130.25) | 101.58 (31.98) | (75–124) | 107.8 (29.39) | (88–126) | <0.001 |
| Height (cm) | 166.66 (9.13) | (160–172) | 169.85 (9.85) | (162–178) | 168.57 (9.68) | (161–176) | 0.009 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 41.96 (5.86) | (38.53–46.03) | 35.25 (10.72) | (23.1–42.43) | 37.93 (9.66) | (32.74–44.27) | <0.001 |
| Hip circumference (cm) | 131.06 (14.1) | (120–142.5) | 119.25 (21.69) | (99–135.25) | 123.67 (20.01) | (110–138.5) | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 129.19 (17.57) | (115.75–143) | 114 (26.22) | (87.04–134.75) | 120.07 (24.28) | (104.25–137.88) | <0.001 |
| Waist to hip ratio | 0.98 (0.09) | (0.93–1.06) | 0.96 (0.1) | (0.89–1.03) | 0.97 (0.09) | (0.9–1.04) | 0.045 |
| DEXA FM (%) | 47.57 (7.67) | (43.2–53.5) | 44.5 (11.35) | (37.63–53.7) | 45.8 (10.04) | (39.65–53.7) | 0.042 |
| DEXA FM (kg) | 59.04 (17.2) | (45.85–68.2) | 49.29 (21.32) | (34.71–61.97) | 53.42 (20.21) | (42.07–65.67) | 0.002 |
| DEXA FFM (kg) | 59.2 (14.38) | (49.03–71.66) | 55.67 (12.58) | (46.15–65.7) | 57.17 (13.44) | (47.3–66.83) | 0.106 |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 50.18 (20.86) | (38–56.5) | 54.69 (17.12) | (43–64.75) | 52.88 (18.8) | (40–61) | 0.074 |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 110.6 (36.09) | (84.75–130.25) | 112.11 (43.91) | (92–127) | 111.51 (40.89) | (91.25–128) | 0.766 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 178.98 (32.31) | (155-201) | 186.47 (39.73) | (162.25–207.75) | 183.48 (37.06) | (159–202.75) | 0.103 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 141.24 (64.54) | (94.25–184.5) | 131.73 (69.66) | (87–160) | 135.55 (67.68) | (90–168) | 0.271 |
| Plasma glucose (mg/dL) | 100.54 (26.08) | (85.75–105.25) | 98.71 (24.25) | (82–109.75) | 99.44 (24.96) | (83–108) | 0.576 |
| Plasma insulin (IU/mL) | 22.66 (19.2) | (11.5–25.7) | 18.04 (12.68) | (9–23.2) | 19.89 (15.75) | (9.7–25) | 0.036 |
| HOMA-IR | 5.84 (5.86) | (2.78–6.44) | 4.5 (3.57) | (1.83–5.89) | 5.04 (4.66) | (2.07–5.9) | 0.043 |
| AST (IU/L) | 23.64 (10.31) | (16–29) | 22.52 (10.11) | (16–25) | 22.97 (10.19) | (16–27) | 0.397 |
| ALT (IU/L) | 30.2 (20.01) | (16–41) | 29.25 (18.11) | (17–36) | 29.63 (18.86) | (17–37) | 0.704 |
| γGT (IU/L) | 37.22 (47.61) | (17–40) | 39.45 (54.37) | (19–42) | 38.56 (51.68) | (19–40.75) | 0.733 |
| Albumin (g/L) | 40.55 (2.78) | (39–43) | 40.85 (4.21) | (39–42) | 40.73 (3.7) | (39–42.75) | 0.493 |
| Platelets (109/L) | 239.19 (53.78) | (199.75–269.25) | 232.85 (60.93) | (189.25–266) | 235.38 (58.15) | (193.25–266) | 0.387 |
| HbA1c (mmol/mol) | 40.22 (7.81) | (35–44) | 37.04 (12.01) | (26–43) | 38.36 (10.57) | (31–44) | 0.015 |
| Elastography | 5.91 (1.64) | (4.77–6.50) | 5.11 (1.94) | (3.42–6.2) | 5.43 (1.86) | (4.02–6.30) | 0.0005 |
| NAFLD fibrosis score | −0.44 (1.03) | (−1.16–0.26) | −1.01 (1.32) | (−1.99–−0.17) | −0.78 (1.24) | (−1.47–0.08) | <0.001 |
| AST to platelets ratio index | 0.24 (0.14) | (0.15–0.29) | 0.24 (0.13) | (0.16–0.29) | 0.24 (0.13) | (0.15–0.29) | 0.692 |
| FIB4 | 0.96 (0.46) | (0.63–1.12) | 0.87 (0.47) | (0.59–1) | 0.9 (0.47) | (0.6–1.05) | 0.137 |
| n | % | n | % | n | % | P value | |
| Gender (women) | 67 | 67 | 84 | 56 | 151 | 60 | 0.107 |
| Diabetes | 35 | 35 | 38 | 25 | 73 | 29 | 0.132 |
| Fibrosis | 97 | 97 | 100 | 66.7 | 197 | 78.8 | <0.001 |
| NASH | 61 | 61 | 100 | 67 | 161 | 64 | 0.434 |
| n | % | n | % | n | % | P value | |
| NAS 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 14 | 21 | 8.4 | <0.001 |
| NAS 1 | 24 | 24 | 29 | 19.3 | 53 | 21.2 | |
| NAS 2 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 6 | |
| NAS 3 | 16 | 16 | 38 | 25 | 54 | 22 | |
| NAS 4 | 31 | 31 | 47 | 31 | 78 | 31 | |
| NAS 5 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 26 | 10 | |
| NAS 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0.80 | |
| NAS 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.40 | |
| SAF-S 0 | 30 | 30 | 50 | 33 | 80 | 32 | 0.308 |
| SAF-S 1 | 22 | 22 | 41 | 27 | 63 | 25 | |
| SAF-S 2 | 35 | 35 | 49 | 33 | 84 | 34 | |
| SAF-S 3 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 23 | 9 | |
| SAF-A 0 | 7 | 7 | 50 | 33 | 57 | 23 | <0.001 |
| SAF-A 1 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 10 | |
| SAF-A 2 | 61 | 61 | 89 | 59 | 150 | 60 | |
| SAF-A 3 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 7 | |
| SAF-A 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.7 | 1 | 0.40 | |
| SAF-F 0 | 3 | 3 | 50 | 33 | 53 | 21 | <0.001 |
| SAF-F 1 | 49 | 49 | 46 | 31 | 95 | 38 | |
| SAF-F 2 | 42 | 42 | 43 | 29 | 85 | 34 | |
| SAF-F 3 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 17 | 7 | |
BMI, body mass index; DEXA FFM, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry free fat mass; DEXA FM, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry fat mass; HbA1c, haemoglobin A1c; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; HOMA-IR, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; NAS, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease activity score; NASH, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; γGT, γ-glutamyl transferase.