New botanical drug, HL tablet, reduces hepatic fat as measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A placebo-controlled, randomized, phase II trial

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study population

Characteristic	High dose (n = 22)	Low dose (n = 23)	Placebo (n = 23)	P value
				High dose vs placebo	Low dose vs placebo
Age, yr	39.1 ± 9.5	45.5 ± 11.5	42.7 ± 11.2	0.474	0.355
Males, n (%)	20 (90.9)	14 (60.9)	20 (87.0)	1.0001	0.0441
Height, cm	170.1 ± 7.1	166.7 ± 10.3	170.4 ± 8.4	0.916	0.184
Weight, kg	82.4 ± 12.1	78.4 ± 16.0	82.9 ± 13.1	0.891	0.301
BMI, kg/m2	28.2 ± 3.4	28.2 ± 4.0	28.4 ± 3.7	0.805	0.855
Above moderate steatosis in US, n (%)	18 (81.8)	16 (69.6)	16 (69.6)	0.4911	1.000
MRS liver fat, %	16.1 ± 7.1	13.3 ± 7.1	12.0 ± 7.5	0.065	0.526
AST, IU/L	52.0 ± 19.1	58.4 ± 24.9	46.3 ± 20.5	0.461	0.077
ALT, IU/L	89.8 ± 34.8	90.3 ± 50.9	67.4 ± 32.7	0.109	0.078
Total cholesterol, mg/dL	205.0 ± 40.3	208.1 ± 31.2	194.5 ± 36.2	0.155	0.179
Triglyceride, mg/dL	190.3 ± 80.6	210.8 ± 137.9	286.7 ± 216.1	0.308	0.162
HDL cholesterol, mg/dL	46.3 ± 7.1	49.3 ± 10.9	43.6 ± 9.9	0.337	0.071
LDL cholesterol, mg/dL	136.0 ± 36.3	133.6 ± 29.7	118.6 ± 30.7	0.053	0.099
VLDL cholesterol, mg/dL	22.7 ± 11.2	25.3 ± 16.3	32.4 ± 21.5	0.263	0.214
Free fatty acid, μEq/L	526.2 ± 209.5	523.7 ± 341.6	581.9 ± 634.7	0.135	0.700
HOMA-IR	2.6 ± 1.6	2.5 ± 1.0	3.5 ± 2.4	0.167	0.3262

¹Fisher’s exact test;

²Wilcoxon’s rank sum test. Continuous data are expressed as mean ± SD. Categorical data are expressed as n (%). BMI: Body mass index; US: Ultrasonography; MRS: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HDL: High density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL: Low density lipoprotein cholesterol; VLDL: Very low density lipoprotein cholesterol; HOMA-IR: Homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance.