Serum Bcl-2 concentrations in overweight-obese subjects with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Table 2 Serum concentrations of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, histology features and inflammation parameters of the patients enrolled

	Diagnosis
	H	FL	NASH	P value
Subjects (n)	21	43	41
Bcl-2 (ng/mL)	2.5 (1.4-13)	25 (2.5-168)	14 (2.5-89)	< 0.0013
Hepatocyte ballooning grade	NA	NA	2 (1-3)	NA
Steatosis score	NA	2 (1-3)	2 (1-3)	0.492
Lobular inflammation grade	NA	NA	2 (1-3)	NA
Portal inflammation grade	NA	NA	1 (1-3)	NA
Fibrosis score	NA	NA	1 (1-2)	NA
Apoptotic cells (n/mm2)	NA	290 (120-900)	780 (110-1650)	< 0.00012
HS at US grade	NA	3 (0-3)	3 (0-3)	0.0642
CRP (mg/L)	0.9 (0.4-5.4)	3.9 (0.1-21.1)	5 (0.1-27)	0.00011

¹Kruskal-Wallis test [significance between healthy (H) and fatty liver (FL) and between H and non alcoholic steato hepatitis (NASH)];

²Mann-Whitney test;

³Kruskal-Wallis test (significance between H and FL, between H and NASH and also between FL and NASH). n: Number; H: Healthy; FL: Fatty liver; NASH: Non alcoholic steato hepatitis; NA: Not applicable; HS: Hepatic steatosis at ultrasound; US: Ultrasound; SLD: Spleen longitudinal diameter at ultrasound; CRP: C-reactive protein.