Changes of liver fat content and transaminases in obese children after 12-mo nutritional intervention

Table 1 Body mass index -z score, fat fraction, liver echogenicity, liver biochemical parameters and lipid profile of the studied population at baseline and at the end of intervention, values are mean (SD)+ and median or number of observation (%)

Variable	Baseline (n = 46)	End of intervention (n = 46)	1P value
BMI Z score	2.3 (0.4); 2.1	1.90 (0.6); 1.9	< 0.001
Fat fraction (%)	7.8 (13.3)	0.01 (8.3)	< 0.001
FF ≥ 5%	21 (45.7)	5 (10.9)	< 0.001
FF ≥ 9%	16 (34.8)	4 (8.7)	< 0.001
Liver echogenicity (%)
0	25 (54.3)	36 (78.3)	< 0.0001
1	14 (30.4)	9 (19.6)
2	6 (13.0)	1 (2.2)
3	1 (2.2)	0 (0.0)
ALT (UI/L)	34.8 (12.0); 29.0	23.8 (8.70); 22.50	< 0.001
AST (UI/L)	30.7 (10.1); 29.0	25.9 (7.50); 26.00	< 0.001
γGT (UI/L)	15.7 (5.2); 15.0	13.1 (3.80); 12.00	< 0.001
Total cholesterol (mmol/L)	4.39 (0.70); 4.48	4.30 (0.76); 4.23	0.211
HDL cholesterol (mmol/L)	1.22 (0.24); 1.23	1.21 (0.22); 1.24	0.916
LDL cholesterol (mmol/L)	2.64 (0.59); 2.60	2.60 (0.67); 2.56	0.306
Triglycerides (mmol/L)	1.31 (0.62); 1.20	0.99 (0.46); 0.94	< 0.001
Apo A1 (g/L)	1.24 (0.21); 1.21	1.28 (0.21); 1.26	0.122
Apo B (g/L)	0.73 (0.17); 0.70	0.66 (0.15); 0.67	0.022

¹Adjusted for age, sex and duration of obesity; ²Student’s t test for paired data or Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Normal range[32]: ALT (5-45 UI/L) for age 1-19 years; AST (15-55 UI/L) for age 1-9 years and (5-45 UI/L) for age 10-19 years; gammaGT (5-32 U/I) for age 4 mo-9 years and (5-24 UI/L) for age 10-15 years. SI convertion factors: to convert cholesterol, divide values by 0.0259; to convert triglycerides, divide values by 0.0113; to convert Apo A1 and Apo B values by 0.01. BMI: Body mass index; FF: Fat fraction; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; γGT: Gamma glutamyltransferase; HDL: High-density-lipoprotein; LDL: Low-density-lipoprotein.