Increased liver markers are associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of the participants n (%)

	Men			Women
	Nondiabetes	Diabetes	P value	Nondiabetes	Diabetes	P value
No.	2936	472		4923	532
Age (yr)	48.5 (0.35)	57.1 (0.60)	< 0.001	49.6 (0.29)	61.9 (0.76)	< 0.001
BMI (kg/m2)	24.1 (0.07)	24.5 (0.18)	0.012	23.4 (0.06)	25.6 (0.18)	< 0.001
Waist circumference (cm)	84.5 (0.21)	87.7 (0.53)	< 0.001	78.5 (0.20)	86.7 (0.52)	< 0.001
Systolic BP (mmHg)	121.1 (0.40)	125.1 (0.91)	< 0.001	117.2 (0.35)	129.4 (1.03)	< 0.001
Diastolic BP (mmHg)	80.0 (0.29)	78.3 (0.57)	0.006	74.7 (0.20)	75.5 (0.55)	0.178
Smoker, current	40.9 (1.17)	39.3 (2.69)	0.576	4.2 (0.37)	5.1 (1.21)	0.488
Drinking, mild to moderate	18.8 (0.90)	16.9 (2.14)	0.438	3.3 (0.33)	2.2 (0.89)	0.330
Regular exercise	22.8 (0.94)	22.7 (2.39)	0.983	18.9 (0.80)	13.7 (2.02)	0.030
Income, lowest quartile	13.7 (0.85)	26.7 (2.56)	< 0.001	18.1 (0.79)	35.7 (2.54)	< 0.001
Education, ≤ middle school	25.1 (1.12)	41.0 (2.88)	< 0.001	39.3 (1.11)	75.7 (2.64)	< 0.001
Rural area	20.6 (2.22)	24.5 (3.43)	0.140	21.6 (2.18)	26.5 (3.51)	0.045
Hypertension	31.3 (1.11)	54.3 (2.73)	< 0.001	24.8 (0.80)	63.8 (2.89)	< 0.001
Hypercholesterolemia	11.5 (0.70)	25.7 (2.50)	< 0.001	13.4 (0.60)	36.50 (2.4)	< 0.001
Metabolic syndrome	25.4 (1.03)	66.1 (2.74)	< 0.001	24.2 (0.68)	80.8 (2.33)	< 0.001
FPG (mg/dL)	94.3 (0.24)	147.4 (3.19)	< 0.001	91.6 (0.17)	138.5 (2.28)	< 0.001
Triglycerides (mg/dL)1	128.2 (124.4-132.2)	146.1 (134.9-158.3)	0.003	94.6 (92.8-96.5)	137.3 (129.5-145.5)	< 0.001
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	193.1 (0.81)	181.3 (2.32)	< 0.001	191.9 (0.66)	194.0 (2.18)	0.353
HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL)	49.0 (0.29)	45.7 (0.75)	< 0.001	55.5 (0.22)	49.5 (0.67)	< 0.001
LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL)	114.7 (0.78)	102.0 (2.02)	< 0.001	114.5 (0.55)	113.0 (2.04)	0.487
ALT (IU/L)1	22.3 (21.8-22.8)	25.3 (23.8-26.9)	< 0.001	15.3 (15.0-15.5)	21.0 (20.0-22.1)	< 0.001
AST (IU/L)1	22.3 (22.0-22.6)	24.0 (22.9-25.1)	0.003	19.2 (19.0-19.4)	22.1 (21.2-23.0)	< 0.001
AST/ALT	1.1 (0.01)	1.0 (0.03)	0.265	1.3 (0.01)	1.1 (0.02)	< 0.001
GGT1	33.9 (32.9-34.9)	42.5 (39.3-46.0)	< 0.001	18.8 (18.4-19.1)	26.6 (25.1-28.1)	< 0.001

¹Geometric mean (95%CI). Data are presented as the mean ± SE, or percentage (SE). BMI: Body mass index; BP: Blood pressure; FPG: Fasting plasma glucose; HDL: High density lipoprotein; LDL: Low density lipoprotein; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyltransferase.