Cumulative effects of excess high-normal alanine aminotransferase levels in relation to new-onset metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease in China

Table 1 Definitions of some specific terms

Term	Definition
lALT group	ALT ≤ optimal ALT cut-off points (U/L)
hALT group	Optimal ALT cut-off point < ALT ≤ 40 (U/L)
aALT group	ALT > 40 (U/L)
ehALT	ALT-optimal ALT cut-off point, if ehALT < 0, redefine ehALT = 0
Cumulative occurrences of ehALT	Sum of times that ehALT > 0 in 2017-2019, time = {0, 1, 2, 3}
Equally weighted cumulative effects of ehALT	Sum of ehALT levels with a weight of 1 in 2017-2019, i.e., ehALT2017 + ehALT2018 + ehALT2019
Unequally weighted cumulative effects of ehALT	Sum of ehALT levels with an increasing weight in 2017-2019, i.e., 1 × ehALT2017 + 2 × ehALT2018 + 3 × ehALT2019
Single ehALT occurrence	ehALT2019 along with ehALT2017 = 0 and ehALT2018 = 0

ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; lALT: Low-normal alanine aminotransferase; hALT: High-normal alanine aminotransferase; aALT: Abnormal alanine aminotransferase; ehALT: Excess high-normal alanine aminotransferase.