Table 1 Clinical characteristics of the study population

From: Genetic and metabolic predictors of hepatic fat content in a cohort of Italian children with obesity

 

All

Boys

Girls

P

N

230

131

99

 

Age (years)

10.2 ± 3.0

10.7 ± 3.1

9.5 ± 2.7

0.003

Body composition

 BMI (kg/m2)

25.4 (23.1–28.7)

26.0 (23.4–29.5)

24.6 (22.8–27.1)

0.010

 BMI Z-score

2.04 (1.8–2.3)

2.1 (1.8–2.3)

2.0 (1.8–2.2)

0.36

 WC (cm)

86.9 ± 11.6

88.8 ± 11.6

84.4 ± 11.1

0.004

 BMI ≥ 95th (n, %)

196 (86)

87 (83.7)

109 (87.9)

0.88

Pubertal stage

   

0.76

 Stage 1

88 (38.3)

52 (39.7)

36 (36.4)

0.09

 Stage 2

59 (25.7)

30 (22.9)

29 (29.3)

0.89

 Stage 3

33 (14.3)

21 (16.0)

12 (12.1)

0.12

 Stage 4

21 (9.1)

12 (9.2)

9 (9.1)

0.51

 Stage 5

28 (12.2)

15 (11.5)

13 (13.1)

0.70

MetS (n, %)a

40 (17.4)

26 (19.8)

14 (14.1)

0.26

HFF (%)

3.0 (1–10)

5.0 (1–10)

2.0 (1–7)

0.042

NAFLD (n, %)b

105 (45.7)

68 (51.9)

37 (37.4)

0.028

Blood pressure

 Systolic (mmHg)

111.5 (106–120)

113.3 (106–120)

111 (105–120)

0.80

 Diastolic (mmHg)

65 (60–70)

65.0 (60.0–70.0)

65.0 (60–70)

0.95

Plasma lipids

 TC (mg/dL)

160.4 ± 31.9

161.4 ± 34.0

159.2 ± 29.04

0.60

 LDL-C (mg/dL)

92.9 ± 27.6

93.2 ± 29.1

92.5 ± 25.6

0.80

 TG (mg/dL)

75.0 (51–106)

72.5 (51–106)

75.0 (51.5–107)

0.86

 HDL-C (mg/dL)

50 ± 12.6

50.7 ± 13.4

52.1 ± 13.5

0.44

 APOB (mg/dL)

0.46 (0.64–0.88)

0.74 (0.63–0.85)

0.79 (0.65–0.89)

0.17

 APOAI (mg/dL)

1.38 (1.25–1.54)

1.39 (1.26–1.54)

1.36 (1.23–1.54)

0.33

Measures of glucose homeostasis

 Blood glucose (mg/dL)

  Fasting

83 (77–86)

83.0 (79.0–86.0)

81.0 (77.0–86.0)

0.06

  120 min

95.2 ± 16.7

97.0 ± 17.7

92.5 ± 14.8

0.06

 Insulin (UI/L)

  Fasting

11.8 (8–16.9)

11.8 (7.8–17.1)

11.8 (9.2–16.7)

0.61

  120 min

42.4 (23.3–68.8)

41.3 (26.6–72.6)

42.7 (21.7–62.9)

0.53

 HOMAIR

2.4 (1.6–3.6)

2.4 (1.5–3.6)

2.3 (1.8–3.6)

0.62

Liver function tests

 ALT (UI/L)

20.5 (16–28.2)

22 (17–31)

19 (15–24)

0.005

 AST (UI/L)

23 (20–27)

24 (21–27)

23 (20–26.5)

0.28

 AST/ALT ratio

1.10 (0.83–1.41)

1.05 (0.76–1.35)

1.17 (0.92–1.51)

0.006

 GGT (UI/L)

14 (11–18)

14 (12–19)

12 (10–16)

0.002

 Albumin (g/L)

49.0 (47–50.5)

49.0 (47–51)

48 (46–50)

0.02

 Ferritin (μg/L)

66.2 ± 35.8

68.7 ± 39.01

62.8 ± 30.9

0.35

 CRP (μg/L)

1600 (800–3600)

1400 (700–2850)

1800 (900–4600)

0.010

  1. Data are expressed as percentage, mean (±SD) and median (25th–75th percentile range) as appropriate
  2. APOA1 Apoliporotein A-I, APOB apoliporotein B, CRP C-reactive protein, LDL-C low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
  3. aMetS was defined as reported in Material and methods
  4. bNAFLD was defined as having hepatic fat content (HFF) ≥ 5% at MRI30,31,32
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