Effect of a counseling-supported treatment with the Mediterranean diet and physical activity on the severity of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Table 4 Correlation between steatosis grade and anthropometric, clinical and metabolic parameters considered in this study at baseline and at end-treatment

Parameter		Grade 0 (n = 9)	Grade I (n = 15)	Grade 2 (n = 18)	Grade 3 (n = 4)	P value
		mean ± STD	mean ± STD	mean ± STD	mean ± STD
BMI (kg/m2)	BL	-	30.19 ± 2.15	28.05 ± 6.47	30.11 ± 6.14	0.499
	6M	23.39 ± 3.52	25.94 ± 5.60	31.36 ± 6.53	25.77 ± 1.14	0.013a
Waist circumference (cm)	BL	-	103.00 ± 1.73	96.05 ± 12.94	105.15 ± 13.91	0.122
	6M	86.44 ± 11.98	90.73 ± 9.24	106.03 ± 12.64	94.88 ± 9.37	< 0.01a
Hip-to-waist ratio (-)	BL	-	0.94 ± 0.05	0.91 ± 0.08	0.98 ± 0.07	0.020a
	6M	0.88 ± 0.06	0.91 ± 0.06	0.97 ± 0.08	0.93 ± 0.09	< 0.01a
Tot Chol (mg/dL)	BL	-	260.67 ± 27.21	210.95 ± 31.20	212.96 ± 46.24	0.266
	6M	215.89 ± 39.78	196.27 ± 62.92	212.06 ± 34.35	154.75 ± 44.90	0.078
HDL (mg/dL)	BL	-	47.00 ± 3.46	52.05 ± 13.39	48.21 ± 8.39	0.532
	6M	142.16 ± 33.53	130.60 ± 22.94	131.33 ± 35.27	96.25 ± 38.88	0.070
LDL (mg/dL)	BL	-	186.67 ± 37.63	133.52 ± 19.00	134.88 ± 37.05	0.119
	6M	54.33 ± 12.97	53.73 ± 14.08	53.56 ± 10.74	45.75 ± 1.89	0.399
TG (mg/dL)	BL	-	134.00 ± 43.28	125.21 ± 42.18	139.79 ± 85.63	0.597
	6M	100.22 ± 31.69	119.20 ± 40.40	138.22 ± 88.51	65.25 ± 42.94	0.807
AST	BL	-	0.72 ± 0.28	0.87 ± 0.33	0.95 ± 0.67	0.435
	6M	0.55 ± 0.15	0.63 ± 0.19	0.67 ± 0.37	0.53 ± 0.17	0.641
ALT	BL	-	0.91 ± 0.20	1.32 ± 0.68	1.35 ± 0.64	0.419
	6M	0.56 ± 0.14	0.79 ± 0.37	0.82 ± 0.50	0.67 ± 0.23	0.334
AST/ALT	BL	-	0.76 ± 0.15	0.71 ± 0.19	0.66 ± 0.20	0.276
	6M	0.95 ± 0.15	0.76 ± 0.22	0.73 ± 0.26	0.78 ± 0.11	0.058
GGT	BL	-	58.67 ± 64.53	51.89 ± 54.69	42.21 ± 25.60	0.392
	6M	17.00 ± 4.12	43.53 ± 25.67	44.39 ± 0.10	27.25 ± 0.50	0.147
Blood gluc. (mg/dL)	BL	-	96.67 ± 9.29	94.16 ± 15.71	101.83 ± 16.26	0.181
	6M	88.00 ± 1.94	91.27 ± 7.33	104.33 ± 17.03	91.50 ± 8.19	0.018a
SM (n)	BL	-	2.67 ± 1.15	1.32 ± 1.00	2.17 ± 1.43	0.350
	6M	1.44 ± 1.13	1.73 ± 1.28	2.28 ± 1.49	1.25 ± 0.50	0.415
Tot-Chol/HDL	BL	-	5.60 ± 1.03	4.29 ± 1.27	4.53 ± 1.26	0.637
	6M	4.07 ± 0.84	3.84 ± 1.55	4.09 ± 0.94	3.41 ± 1.09	0.479
LDL/HDL	BL	-	4.03 ± 1.14	2.72 ± 0.82	2.88 ± 0.96	0.355
	6M	2.70 ± 0.82	2.60 ± 0.90	2.54 ± 0.82	2.12 ± 0.91	0.333
TG/HDL	BL	-	2.83 ± 0.78	2.63 ± 1.36	3.07 ± 2.11	0.516
	6M	1.92 ± 0.73	2.44 ± 1.25	2.79 ± 2.24	1.46 ± 1.02	0.698
AIP	BL	-	0.44 ± 0.11	0.37 ± 0.21	0.39 ± 0.29	0.983
	6M	0.25 ± 0.19	0.34 ± 0.21	0.35 ± 0.27	0.08 ± 0.31	0.780
HOMA-IR (mU/L)	BL	-	2.77 ± 0.22	2.37 ± 1.37	4.01 ± 2.18	0.015a
	6M	1.50 ± 0.84	2.47 ± 1.06	4.12 ± 1.71	2.67 ± 1.51	< 0.01a
QUICKI	BL	-	0.33 ± 0.00	0.35 ± 0.04	0.32 ± 0.03	0.082
	6M	0.37 ± 0.05	0.34 ± 0.02	0.32 ± 0.02	0.34 ± 0.03	< 0.01a
PLR	BL	-	120.89 ± 28.83	107.31 ± 32.51	121.06 ± 57.08	0.467
	6M	93.44 ± 22.18	106.95 ± 48.08	127.33 ± 47.95	122.70 ± 30.46	0.058
NLR	BL	-	1.36 ± 0.37	1.79 ± 0.80	2.21 ± 1.34	0.112
	6M	1.32 ± 0.21	1.67 ± 1.08	2.21 ± 0.85	1.44 ± 0.50	0.097
FLI	BL	-	98.97 ± 0.30	98.84 ± 0.39	98.70 ± 0.75	0.612
	6M	98.48 ± 0.72	98.79 ± 0.40	98.75 ± 0.67	97.08 ± 1.82	0.143
Kotronen index (%)	BL	-	4.63 ± 2.14	4.3 ± 2.0	7.6 ± 6.4	0.047a
	6M	2.15 ± 0.83	3.5 ± 1.0	5.3 ± 3.2	3.1 ± 0.6	0.017a
VAI	BL	-	3.5 ± 1.8	1.9 ± 1.0	1.6 ± 1.1	0.041a
	6M	1.44 ± 0.64	1.38 ± 0.65	1.29 ± 0.67	0.9 ± 0.67	0.224
NAFLD fat liver score	BL	-	-0.42 ± 0.9	-0.6 ± 1.1	0.7 ± 1.8	0.016a
	6M	1.88 ± 0.71	-0.84 ± 0.78	0.07 ± 1.27	-0.99 ± 0.63	< 0.01a
LAP (male)	BL	-	52.00 ± 0.00	44.27 ± 19.98	50.51 ± 32.82	0.694
	6M	25.67 ± 11.38	31.11 ± 14.62	42.38 ± 19.13	26.11 ± 22.32	0.386
LAP (female)	BL	-	72.10 ± 32.56	56.13 ± 31.50	130.21 ± 83.11	0.377
	6M	24.42 ± 16.25	52.21 ± 23.70	109.22 ± 67.63	-	0.147
BARD	BL	-	2.33 ± 1.15	0.79 ± 1.08	1.17 ± 1.34	0.733
	6M	1.89 ± 0.33	1.07 ± 1.03	1.56 ± 1.15	0.50 ± 1.00	0.192
NAFLD	BL	-	-3.41 ± 0.48	-2.25 ± 0.73	-2.17 ± 1,02	0.112
	6M	-2.44 ± 0.93	-2.68 ± 0.87	-1.88 ± 1.07	-2.27 ± 0.91	0.144
MedDiet Score	BL	-	30.0 ± 3.0	29.6 ± 4.6	27.2 ± 3.1	0.044a
	6M	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

^aP ≤ 0.05, significant difference. NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; TG: Triglycerides; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyl transferase.