Metabolic syndrome is directly associated with gamma glutamyl transpeptidase elevation in Japanese women

Table 1 Univariate analysis of the association between GGT elevation and different variables

Variable	Category	n	GGT > 68 IU/L (%)	P
Age	≧ 50	2342	181(7.7)	< 0.0001
	< 50	1869	77(4.1)
BMI	≧ 25	1206	105(8.7)	< 0.0001
	< 25	3 005	153(5.1)
Blood pressure	High	563	45(8.0)	0.047
	Normal	3 648	213(5.8)
Hemoglobin	≧ 14	1153	110(9.5)	< 0.0001
(g/dL)	< 14	3 058	148(4.8)
Cholesterol	≧ 220	1408	122(8.7)	< 0.0001
(mg/dL)	< 220	2803	136(4.9)
Triglyceride	≧ 150	667	89(13.3)	< 0.0001
(mg/dL)	< 150	3544	169(4.8)
Uric acid	≧ 7.0	154	16(10.4)	0.025
(mg/dL)	< 7.0	4057	242(6.0)
Diabetes	Present	186	32(17.2)	< 0.0001
	Absent	4025	226(5.6)
Fatty liver	Present	391	36(9.2)	0.008
	Absent	3820	222(5.8)

Table 2 Coefficients between GGT and several variables in women with and without fatty Liver (Pearson’s correlation analysis)

Variable	Women withfatty liver (n = 391)	P value	Women withoutfatty liver (n = 3820)	P value
Age	-0.035	0.485	0.091	< 0.001
BMI	0.022	0.670	0.164	< 0.001
SBP	0.078	0.122	0.131	< 0.001
DBP	0.101	0.046	0.123	< 0.001
Hemoglobin (g/dL)	0.140	0.006	0.100	< 0.001
Blood sugar	0.129	0.011	0.195	< 0.001
HbA1c (mg/dL)	0.108	0.032	0.186	< 0.001
Total cholesterol	0.187	< 0.001	0.134	< 0.001
(mg/dL)
Triglyceride	0.226	< 0.001	0.208	< 0.001
(mg/dL)
AST (IU/L)	0.411	< 0.001	0.455	< 0.001
ALT (IU/L)	0.464	< 0.001	0.524	< 0.001
ALP (IU/L)	0.272	< 0.001	0.363	< 0.001
Uric acid (mg/dL)	0.188	< 0.001	0.178	< 0.001

SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure.

Table 3 Relationship between GGT and fatty liver in women with and without elevated triglyceride (TG) Level

	GGT > 68 IU/l (%)	Mean of GGT (GeometricMean ± SD)
Women with elevated TG level (n = 667)	89(13.5)	32.4 ± 1.9
With fatty liver (n = 137)	22(16.1)	38.9 ± 1.8
Without fatty liver (n = 530)	67(12.6)	30.9 ± 1.9b
Women with normal TG level (n = 3544)	169(4.8)	22.4 ± 1.7
With fatty liver (n = 254)	14(5.5)	28.2 ± 1.7
Without fatty liver (n = 3290)	155(4.7)	22.4 ± 1.7b

^bP < 0.001 when compared between with and without fatty liver.

Table 4 Multiple regression analysis of association between logarithmically transformed GGT level and independent variables

Variable	Regression coefficient	T value	P value
Age	-0.0007	-1.77	0.076
BMI	0.0058	4.82	< 0.001
SBP	0.0007	3.36	0.001
Hemoglobin	0.0112	3.64	< 0.001
Total cholesterol	0.0004	3.20	0.001
Triglyceridea	0.2160	11.38	< 0.0001
Uric acid	0.0300	8.23	< 0.0001
Diabetes	0.1140	6.45	< 0.0001
Fatty liver	0.0340	2.60	0.009
R2	0.1630

a, logarithmically transformed triglyceride level.

Table 5 Factors contributing to elevated GGT level in women (n = 4 211)

	Odds ratio	95% CI	P
Age ≧ 50 years	1.4	1.1-1.9	0.016
Hemoglobin ≧ 14 g/dL	1.6	1.3-2.1	< 0.0001
Triglyceride ≧ 150 mg/dL	2.3	1.7-3.1	< 0.0001
Diabetes	2.2	1.5-3.4	< 0.0001

Table 6 Factors contributing to fatty liver in women (n = 4 211)

	Odds ratio	95% CI	P
BMI ≧ 25 kg/m2	3.3	2.8-3.9	< 0.0001
Hemoglobin ≧ 14 g/dL	1.6	1.2-2.0	< 0.0001
Triglyceride ≧ 150 mg/dL	2.3	1.8-2.9	< 0.0001
Uric acid ≧ 7.0 mg/dL	1.9	1.2-2.8	0.003