Persistent alanine aminotransferase elevation among the general Iranian population: Prevalence and causes

Table 1 Relative frequency of the participants according to demographic characteristics, laboratory test results, BMI and gender n (%)

Characteristic	Male (698)	Female (1351)	P-value	Total (2049)
Mean age ± SD (yr)	43.91 ± 15.52	38.88 ± 13.94	0.000	40.59 ± 14.69
Mean BMI ± SD (kg/m2)	25.02 ± 4.29	26.70 ± 5.34	0.000	26.13 ± 5.07
Median BMI (kg/m2)	24.91	25.94		25.56
BMI (kg/m2)
< 18.5	40 (5.9)	43 (3.3)		83 (4.2)
18.5-24.9	308 (45.3)	509 (38.8)		817 (41)
25-29.9	240 (35.3)	418 (31.8)		650 (33)
30-34.9	82 (12.1)	248 (18.9)		330 (16.6)
35-39.9	9 (1.3)	73 (5.6)		82 (4.1)
≥ 40	1 (0.1)	22 (1.7)		23 (1.2)
Mean ALT ± SD (U/L)	24.01 ± 15.67	19.38 ± 12.56	0.000	20.96 ± 13.87
HBsAg positive	38 (5.4)	64 (4.7)	0.340	102 (5)
HCV Ab positive	8 (1.1)	12 (0.8)	0.360	20 (1)
Diabetes mellitus	28 (4)	59 (4.3)	0.400	87 (4.2)
Hypertension	64 (9.1)	155 (11.4)	0.060	219 (10.6)

Table 2 Demographic characteristics, laboratory test results, and sonography findings of presumed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis subjects n (%)

Characteristics	Male (24)	Female (18)	Total (42)
Mean age ± SD (yr)	41.04 ± 12.32	44.33 ± 9.12	42.45 ± 11.06
Mean BMI ± SD (kg/m2)	29.65 ± 4.07	31.62 ± 7.41	30.47 ± 5.7
BMI (kg/m2)
< 18.5	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
18.5-24.9	3 (12.5)	4 (23.5)	7 (17.1)
25-29.9	9 (37.5)	3 (17.6)	12 (29.3)
30-34.9	9 (37.5)	5 (29.4)	14 (34.1)
35-39.9	3 (12.5)	2 (11.8)	5 (12.2)
≥ 40	0 (0)	3 (17.6)	3 (7.3)
First mean ALT ± SD (U/L)	62.58 ± 21.51	61.11 ± 24.20	61.95 ± 22.42
Second mean ALT ± SD (U/L)	51.42 ± 15.16	45.18 ± 12.28	48.83 ± 14.22
Third mean ALT ± SD (U/L)	62.50 ± 20.46	54.00 ± 27.99	56.83 ± 25.10
Liver texture at sonography
Grade 1	17 (70.8)	11 (61.1)	28 (66.7)
Grade 2	7 (29.2)	7 (38.9)	14 (33.3)
Grade 3	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Liver span > 15 cm in sonography	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Diabetes mellitus	1 (4.1)	4 (22)	5 (11.9)
Hypertension	1 (4.1)	2 (11)	3 (7.1)