Assessment of metabolic biomarkers associated with hepatic steatosis in Crohn’s disease

Table 1 Baseline characteristics, n (%)

Variable	CD remission	Active CD	Healthy controls	Statistical significance
Sex				0.04
Female	12 (30)	7 (17.5)	21 (52.5)
Male	12 (37.5)	12 (37.5)	8 (25)
Smoking status				0.007
No	10 (25)	6 (15)	24 (60)
Yes	6 (37.5)	5 (31.25)	5 (31.5)
Former	7 (63.6)	4 (36.4)	0 (0)
Weight (kg), median IQR	76.3 (62-84)	77.25 (65-85)	76.5 (61-90)	0.3
Height (cm), median IQR	171.5 (163.5-179)	172 (167-175)	162.5 (158-174)	0.2
Dyslipidemia	7 (29.1)	1 (5.2)	0 (0)	0.002
Hypertension	3 (37.5)	3 (37.5)	2 (25)	0.6
Prior diagnosis of MASLD	1 (4.1)	1 (5.2)	0 (0)	0.4

CD: Crohn’s disease; MASLD: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; IQR: Interquartile range.

Table 2 Baseline inflammatory bowel disease activity and disease-related characteristics, n (%)/median interquartile range

Variable	CD remission	Active CD	Healthy controls	Statistical significance
Previous IBD treatment	18/24 (75)	14/19 (73.7)
Clinical activity (HBI)	0 (0)	3 (0-6)		< 0.0001
Fecal calprotectin (μg/g)	45.1 (20.7-63)	331 (209-418)		< 0.0001
C-reactive protein (mg/L)	0.8 (0.5-1.6)	4.8 (1.4-8.4)	0.5 (0.5-1.9)	< 0.0001
Hemoglobin (g/dL)	14.3 (13.9-15.8)	14.6 (13.9-15.8)	14.5 (13.8-15.2)	0.07
Albumin (g/dL)	4.4 (4.2-4.5)	4.5 (4.5-4.6)	4.7 (4.4-4.8)	0.3
Endoscopic activity (SES-CD)	12 (5-13)	0 (0-3)
Ultrasound: Bowel wall thickness (mm)	2 (2-2)	4.8 (4.5-5.6)
Ultrasound: Hyperemia (Limberg score)	0 (0)	3 (2-3)
Loss of wall stratification	0 (0)	2 (13)		0.07
Mesenteric fat proliferation	0 (0)	4 (26)		0.01

CD: Crohn’s disease; IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease; HBI: Harvey-Bradshaw index; SES-CD: Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn’s disease.

Table 3 Biochemical and metabolic parameters according to study groups (mean value)

Variable	CD remission	Active CD	Healthy controls	Statistical significance
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	186	174	179	0.6
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	134	101	87	0.04
LDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	133	113	98	0.09
HDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	54	52	61	0.1
ALT (U/L)	30	21	24	0.06
AST (U/L)	22	20	17	0.08
GGT (U/L)	31	21	23	0.1
ALP (U/L)	80	87	89	0.01
Apolipoprotein B	101	85	78	0.1
HOMA index	2.54	1.45	2.98	0.09
HbA1c (mmol/mol)	17.7	35.5	5.8	0.02

CD: Crohn’s disease; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyl transferase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; HOMA: Homeostasis model assessment; HbA1c: Glycated hemoglobin.

Table 4 Liver biochemical profile in patients with ultrasound-diagnosed hepatic steatosis (mean value)

Variable	CD remission	Active CD	Healthy controls	P value (ANOVA)
AST (UI/L)	26.6	27.3	18.6	0.5
ALT (UI/L)	41.1	42.6	23.4	0.5
LDL (mg/dL)	125	112.2	99.4	0.3
GGT (UI/L)	76.6	30.8	24	0.4
ALP (UI/L)	83.5	91.8	85.8	0.7
Bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.8	0.5	0.6	0.2

CD: Crohn’s disease; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyl transferase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; ANOVA: Analysis of variance.