Quantification of Streptococcus salivarius using the digital polymerase chain reaction as a liver fibrosis marker

Table 1 Baseline clinical characteristics

Clinical characteristics	All patients	Positive (≤ 1 copy/ μL)	Negative (> 1 copy/ μL)	P value
Number of patients	52	36	16
Age (year)	65.0 (24-84)	68.5 (24-84)	55.0 (41-74)	0.006
Gender: Male [n (%)]	31 (54.3)	23 (63.8)	8 (50.0)	0.450
Weight(kg)	64 (41-121)	64 (41-121)	70 (47-92)	0.234
Body mass index (kg/m2)	25.1 (16.1-46.1)	24.9 (16.0-46.1)	25.3 (16.1-32.1)	0.706
MAFLD/non-MAFLD (n)	28/24	19/17	9/7	0.772
Alcohol [n (%)]	4 (7.7)	2 (5.6)	2 (12.5)	0.578
Hepatocellular carcinoma [n (%)]	10 (19.2)	10 (27.8)	0	0.017
Fibrosis stage 0/1/2/3/4 (n)	4/20/9/13/6	1/12/7/11/5	3/8/2/2/1	0.023
Mild/advance fibrosis (n)	33/19	20/16	13/3
Hepatic encephalopathy [n (%)]	2 (3.8)	2 (5.6)	0	0.587
Hepatic ascites [n (%)]	2 (3.8)	2 (5.6)	0	0.587
Gastric acid secretion inhibitor [n (%)]	13 (25.0)	11 (30.6)	2 (12.5)	0.146
White blood cells (/μL)	5400 (2400-12200)	5250 (3100-12200)	6250 (2400-9300)	0.201
Platelets (× 104/μL)	18.7 (6.3-47.0)	17.3 (6.3-40.7)	19.9 (10.6-30.0)	0.204
Prothrombin time (%)	94 (40-107)	99.0 (40-114)	100 (61-107)	0.571
Serum albumin (g/dL)	4.2 (2.5-5.0)	4.2 (2.5-5.0)	4.3 (3.4-4.8)	0.068
Aspartate aminotransferase (IU/L)	36.5 (16-138)	35.5 (16-138)	37.5 (18-127)	0.684
Alanine aminotransferase (IU/L)	46.0 (11-179)	36.5 (11-179)	48.5 (14-146)	0.252
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.7 (0.4-4.9)	0.7 (0.4-4.9)	0.8 (0.4-2.0)	0.114

MAFLD: Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.