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

Table 3 Discriminating ability of the novel markers in the studied groups

Variable	VLDL			CIMT			LDL/platelet ratio			ABI
Cutoff value	Below 16.5	Above 16.5	P value	Below 1.1	Above 1.1	P value	Below 1	Above 1	P value	Below 0.94	Above 0.94	P value
n	76	164	-	96	144	-	98	142	-	70	170	-
Sex (M/F)	56/20	106/58	0.2	64/32	98/46	0.86	66/32	96/46	0.83	47/23	115/55	0.45
Age (yr)	50.3 ± 10	48.5 ± 8.3	0.3	49.6 ± 8.6	48.7 ± 9	0.56	49.8 ± 8.8	48 ± 9	0.78	51.5 ± 8.9	48.2 ± 7.4	0.2
AST (IU/L)	46 ± 11.6	38.4 ± 12.1	0.01	47.5 ± 11.8	34.9 ± 8.4	0.01	52 ± 11	35 ± 9	0.001	49 ± 12	38 ± 11	0.03
ALT (IU/L)	45 ± 8.4	37.5 ± 8.5	0.03	46 ± 8	35.4 ± 7	0.03	45 ± 7.8	34 ± 5.6	0.02	43 ± 8	32 ± 8	0.047
Platelet count × 103	83.6 ± 47	165.5 ± 62.2	0.001	82.5 ± 41.4	182 ± 40	0.001	81 ± 26	188 ± 41	0.001	87 ± 23	160 ± 61	0.001
Total cholesterol	166 ± 21	198 ± 24	0.02	170 ± 18	200.5 ± 26	0.034	168 ± 26	197 ± 28	0.04	173 ± 27	196 ± 25	0.023
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	135.7 ± 15	164 ± 19	0.03	137 ± 15	168 ± 15	0.032	140 ± 19	168 ± 16	0.045	143 ± 18	162 ± 24	0.01
VLDL (mg/dL)	14.6 ± 1.5	26.2 ± 5.6	0.001	17 ± 4.9	28 ± 7	0.001	15 ± 4	32 ± 6	0.001	17 ± 5	25 ± 12	0.03
LDL (mg/dL)	106 ± 15	126 ± 21	0.001	102 ± 13	130 ± 20	0.023	110 ± 17	122 ± 20	0.06	109 ± 19	129 ± 22	0.021
HDL (mg/dL)	40 ± 4	43 ± 8	0.89	39 ± 5	42 ± 8.2	0.45	40 ± 5	42 ± 8	0.82	39 ± 4	42 ± 8	0.34
FIB-4	5.03 ± 1.8	2.2 ± 1.6	0.001	5 ± 2	1.7 ± 0.6	0.001	4.9 ± 1.9	1.6 ± 0.5	0.001	4.2 ± 2	2.4 ± 1.9	0.01
LDL/platelet count ratio	1.5 ± 0.48	0.84 ± 0.3	0.001	1.4 ± 0.4	0.75 ± 0.21	0.001	1.5 ± 0.3	0.7 ± 0.15	0.001	1.24 ± 0.21	0.91 ± 0.34	0.001S
Splenic diameter (mm)	186.3 ± 25.4	141.5 ± 24	0.001	185.4 ± 20	133 ± 17	0.001	181 ± 24	122 ± 11	0.001	171 ± 29	136 ± 13	0.001
Platelets/SD	492.6 ± 76.2	1237.7 ± 502	0.001	463.3 ± 43	1400 ± 410	0.001	471 ± 213	1440 ± 402	0.001	678 ± 298	1173 ± 554	0.001

ABI: Ankle-brachial index; LDL: Low-density lipoproteins; HDL: High-density lipoproteins; VLDL: Very low-density lipoproteins; CIMT: Carotid-intima media thickness; SD: Splenic diameter; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; FIB-4: Fibrosis index-4.