Role of simple biomarkers in predicting fibrosis progression in HCV infection

Table 2 Differences in parameters between progressors and non-progressors at initial biopsy

	Progressors	Non-progressors	P value
No.	19 (14 with a 1-stage change; 5 with a 2-stage change)	17	0.999
Age (yr)	50	52	0.621
Sex	Male 13	Male 14	> 0.050 (NS)
	Female 6	Female 3
APRI	0.66	0.56	0.173
FIB-4	1.307	1.347	0.268
ALT (IU/mL)	92	47	0.003
AST (IU/mL)	100	38	0.001
Platelets (× 109/L)	235	243	0.956
Stage	2	1	0.477
Duration between biopsies (yr)	4	4	0.200

ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; APRI: AST/Platelet Ratio Index; NS: Not significant.