Novel markers of endothelial dysfunction in hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis: More than a mere prediction of esophageal varices

Table 1 Baseline laboratory and endoscopic findings of the enrolled patients

Variable	Liver cirrhosis with EVs	Liver cirrhosis without EVs	Control group	P value1
n	90	90	60	-
Sex (M/F)	62/28	60/30	40/20	0.4
Age (yr)	49.6 ± 8.4	47.7 ± 9.7	46 ± 6.7	0.32
BMI (kg/m2)	26.3 ± 2.1	25.8 ± 1.3	26.6 ± 0.9	0.21
ABI	0.94 ± 0.09	1.08 ± 0.13	1.16 ± 0.11	0.001
AST (IU/L)	53.7 ± 10.2	43.7 ± 5.6	31.1 ± 10.8	0.001
ALT (IU/L)	47.2 ± 7.8	36.2 ± 8.5	30.6 ± 7.7	0.001
Platelet count × 103	79.2 ± 21.2	189.3 ± 43.2	197.7 ± 18.7	0.001
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	177.6 ± 18.8	199.2 ± 27.4	210.4 ± 12.6	0.01
HDL (mg/dL)	39.5 ± 4.3	44.6 ± 7.1	35.4 ± 5.3	0.004
TGs (mg/dL)	135.7 ± 14.4	168.8 ± 12.8	180.8 ± 8.4	0.01
VLDL (mg/dL)	16.6 ± 4.3	26.5 ± 5.3	25 ± 5.7	0.001
LDL (mg/dL)	105.8 ± 14.5	128.9 ± 20.6	138.9 ± 16.5	0.03
FIB-4	4.97 ± 1.8	1.54 ± 0.47	1.51 ± 0.3	0.001
Platelets/SD ratio	449 ± 167	1375 ± 380	1702 ± 238	0.001
LDL/platelet count ratio	1.41 ± 0.4	0.71 ± 0.21	0.75 ± 0.09	0.001
Child-Pugh class (n)	A (26), B (46), C (18)	A (88), B (2)	Non-cirrhotic	-
Endoscopy	-	-	-	-
EVs	-	-	-	-
Grade I-II, n (%)	32 (35.5)	-	-	-
Grade III, n (%)	42 (46.7)	-	-	-
Grade IV, n (%)	16 (17.8)	-	-	-
2Fundal varix, n (%)	12 (13.3)	-	-	-

¹P value less than 0.05 is considered significant.

²Fundal varices were not isolated but associated with G I esophageal varices (EV) (n = 2), G II EV (n = 6), G III-IV EV (n = 4).

BMI: Body mass index; ABI: Ankle-brachial index; LDL: Low-density lipoproteins; HDL: High-density lipoproteins; VLDL: Very low-density lipoproteins; TGs: Triglycerides; EVs: Esophageal varices; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; SD: Splenic diameter; FIB-4: Fibrosis index-4.