Serum bile acid and unsaturated fatty acid profiles of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in type 2 diabetic patients

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of healthy control and type 2 diabetes mellitus with or without non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Item	HC	T2DM without NAFLD	T2DM with NAFLD	F0-1	F2-4
	n = 113	n = 134	n = 152	n = 94	n = 58
Age in yr	59.65 ± 14.54	60.06 ± 16.60	53.61 ± 12.16a,b	49.44 ± 10.32	61.72 ± 10.48c
Sex, male, %	69 (61.06)	87 (64.93)	102 (67.11)	63 (67.02)	39 (67.24)
Duration of diabetes, month	/	84.00 [27.00, 153.00]	48.00 [2.00, 120.00]b	36.00 [7.00, 93.00]	84.00 [24.00, 144.00]c
SBP, mmHg	128.00 [116.00, 132.00]	130.00 [120.00, 138.50]	130.00 [120.00, 140.00]	130.00 [120.00, 138.00]	130.00 [120.00, 140.00]
DBP, mmHg	80.00 [74.00, 86.00]	81.00 [75.00, 89.00]	82.00 [76.00, 88.00]	81.00 [80.00, 88.00]	80.00 [76.00, 90.00]
BMI, Kg/m2	22.21 [21.54, 23.58]	23.38 [21.59, 25.98]	25.96 [23.76, 27.79]a,b	26.39 [23.98, 29.37]	25.96 [24.22, 26.70]
TyG index	8.41 [8.21, 9.02]	9.88 [9.43, 10.40]a	10.21 [9.69, 10.71]a,b	10.27 [9.82, 10.66]	9.98 [9.57, 10.53]
FIB-4 index	/	/	/	0.85 [0.59, 1.02]	1.79 [1.51, 2.13]c
HbA1c, %	/	9.00 [7.00, 10.50]	9.10 [7.65, 10.60]	9.15 [7.92, 10.60]	8.60 [7.52, 10.47]
FPG, mmol/L	5.21 [4.97, 5.83]	8.05 [5.99, 11.02]a	8.13 [6.67, 10.68]a	8.63 [6.43, 11.32]	7.86 [6.88, 9.84]
FC-P, ng/mL	/	1.33 [0.61, 2.17]	1.85 [1.16, 2.79]b	1.92 [1.16, 3.04]	1.80 [1.41, 2.48]
2h C-P, ng/mL	/	2.83 [1.24, 5.00]	4.13 [2.17, 6.23]b	4.29 [2.10, 6.39]	4.31 [2.34, 6.35]
TC, mmol/L	4.44 [3.91, 5.19]	4.19 [3.63, 4.97]	4.62 [3.91, 5.44]b	4.63 [4.01, 5.21]	4.52 [3.69, 5.47]
TG, mmol/L	1.17 [0.88, 1.79]	1.35 [1.04, 1.98]a	1.76 [1.29, 2.99]a,b	1.95 [1.38, 3.08]	1.56 [1.21, 2.46]
HDL-C, mmol/L	1.24 [1.11, 1.42]	1.07 [0.91, 1.28]a	0.93 [0.82, 1.10]a,b	0.92 [0.80, 1.08]	0.98 [0.83, 1.17]
LDL-C, mmol/L	2.70 [2.31, 3.32]	2.77 [2.27, 3.28]	2.94 [2.22, 3.67]	2.94 [2.33, 3.59]	2.98 [2.07, 3.75]
ALT, U/L	14.10 [10.90, 21.42]	14.10 [10.10, 20.50]	25.00 [15.70, 36.30]a,b	23.40 [15.17, 33.05]	28.50 [15.90, 41.25]
AST, U/L	15.45 [12.83, 19.25]	15.20 [12.70, 19.30]	18.90 [14.35, 25.85]a,b	16.90 [13.80, 24.70]	22.50 [16.27, 36.47]c
TBIL, μmol/L	10.75 [7.45, 13.67]	9.30 [7.60, 12.05]	11.30 [8.65, 14.30]a,b	10.95 [8.00, 14.07]	11.70 [9.50, 14.77]
DBIL, μmol/L	3.90 [2.92, 5.47]	3.80 [2.95, 4.65]	4.40 [3.45, 5.55]a,b	4.25 [3.30, 5.20]	4.85 [3.70, 6.10]c
IBIL, μmol/L	5.95 [4.08, 8.05]	5.70 [4.50, 7.45]	6.90 [4.85, 8.50]a,b	6.60 [4.45, 8.52]	6.90 [5.62, 8.55]
UA, μmol/L	277.00 [228.00, 330.00]	287.00 [234.00, 347.00]	313.50 [247.25, 374.00]a,b	315.00 [248.50, 376.25]	315.50 [247.00, 356.50]
SCR, μmol/L	66.00 [54.12, 75.55]	67.35 [54.27, 79.55]	64.20 [52.90, 77.48]	65.20 [52.25, 80.10]	65.70 [56.92, 79.12]
BUN, mmol/L	5.42 [4.53, 6.34]	5.54 [4.75, 6.47]	5.38 [4.45, 6.06]	5.41 [4.46, 6.00]	5.36 [4.48, 6.45]
HT, yes, %	/	72 (53.73)	73(48.03)	42 (40.43)	31 (57.45)
Metformin, yes, %	/	50 (37.31)	60 (39.47)	38 (43.63)	22 (37.93)
Acarbose, yes, %	/	28 (20.90)	26 (17.11)	12 (12.77)	14 (24.14)
Sulfonylureas, yes, %	/	15 (11.19)	24 (15.79)	11 (11.70)	13 (24.41)
Glinides, yes, %	/	3 (2.24)	10 (6.58)	7 (7.45)	3 (5.17)
TZDs, yes, %	/	3 (2.24)	1 (0.66)	1 (1.06)	0 (0.00)
DPP-4 inhibitors, yes, %	/	13 (9.70)	16 (10.53)	10 (10.64)	6 (10.34)
SGLT-2 inhibitors, yes, %	/	16 (11.94)	14 (9.21)	9 (9.57)	5 (8.62)
GLP-1 agonists, yes, %	/	1 (0.75)	1 (0.66)	0 (0.00)	1 (1.72)
Insulin, yes, %	/	35 (26.12)	27 (17.76)	16 (17.02)	11 (18.97)
Statins, yes, %	/	12 (8.96)	18 (11.84)	11(11.70)	7 (12.07)

^aP < 0.05 when compared with health control (Wilcoxon rank sum test).

^bP < 0.05 when type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) compared with T2DM without NAFLD (Wilcoxon rank sum test).

^cP < 0.05 when F_2-4 compared with F_0-1 (Wilcoxon rank sum test).

Values are n (%), mean ± SD, median [upper quartile, lower quartile]. 2h C-P: C-peptide 2 h after meal; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; BMI: Body mass index; BUN: Blood urea nitrogen; DBIL: Direct bilirubin; DBP: Diastolic blood pressure; DPP-4 inhibitor: Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor; FC-P: Fasting C-peptide; F_0-1: FIB-4 < 1.3 in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; F₀: Clinical liver fibrosis stage 0 (no fibrosis): F₁: Clinical liver fibrosis stage 1 (Mild fibrosis); F_2-4: Clinically significant fibrosis with FIB-4 ≥ 1.3 in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: F₂: Clinical liver fibrosis stage 2 (moderate fibrosis): F₃: Clinical liver fibrosis stage 3 (severe fibrosis): F₄: Clinical liver fibrosis stage 4 (cirrhosis); FIB-4: Fibrosis 4 score; FPG: Fasting blood glucose; GLP-1 agonists: Glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists; HbA1c: Hemoglobin A1c; HC: Health control; HDL-C: High-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HT: Hypertension; IBIL: Indirect bilirubin; LDL-C: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; PLT: Platelet; SBP: Systolic blood pressure; SCR: Serum creatinine; SGLT-2 inhibitor: Sodium-dependent glucose transporters 2; T2DM: Type 2 diabetes mellitus; TBIL: Total bilirubin; TC: Total cholesterol; TG: Triglyceride; TZDs: Thiazolidinediones; TyG: Triglyceride-glucose; UA: Uric acid.