Correlation between the interleukin-36 subfamily and gut microbiota in patients with liver cirrhosis: Implications for gut-liver axis imbalance

Table 1 General clinical characteristics of the study population

Variables	HC (n = 29)	LC (n = 61)	χ²/t	P value
Sex (male)	23.00 (79.30%)	50.00 (82.00%)	0.248	0.763
Age (years)	51.65 ± 8.34	53.89 ± 9.38	-1.091	0.278
WBC (109/L)	5.58 ± 1.21	4.60 ± 2.48	2.024	0.046
HB (g/L)	146.22 ± 35.68	110.82 ± 29.99	4.918	< 0.001
PLT (109/L)	230.10 ± 54.88	109.62 ± 73.07	7.877	< 0.001
Alb (g/L)	47.09 ± 4.74	32.87 ± 6.92	9.990	< 0.001
ALT (U/L)	20.59 ± 6.92	43.64 ± 6.92	-1.803	0.075
AST (U/L)	23.00 ± 9.39	58.62 ± 60.48	-3.145	0.002
ALP (U/L)	70.28 ± 15.33	117.16 ± 52.84	-4.673	< 0.001
γ-GGT (U/L)	23.17 ± 12.72	123.61 ± 333.17	-1.618	0.109
TBIL (umol/L)	10.81 ± 3.52	65.82 ± 93.82	-3.147	0.002
Cr (umol/L)	71.25 ± 8.79	71.93 ± 28.85	-0.149	0.882

LC: Liver cirrhosis; HC: Healthy controls; HB: Hemoglobin; PLT: Blood platelet; Alb: Albumin; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; γ-GGT: Gamma-glutamyltransferase; TBIL: Total bilirubin; Cr: Creatinine; WBC: White blood cell.

Table 2 Analysis of the correlation between serum interleukin-36 subfamily cytokines and clinical indicators in study participants

Variables	IL-36α		IL-36γ		IL-36Ra		IL-38
	R value	P value	R value	P value	R value	P value	R value	P value
WBC (109/L)	0.005	0.963	0.047	0.661	-0.111	0.298	0.048	0.655
HB (g/L)	-0.296	0.005	-0.245	0.020	-0.240	0.023	-0.186	0.079
PLT (109/L)	-0.345	0.001	-0.275	0.009	-0.255	0.015	-0.153	0.151
Alb (g/L)	0.525	< 0.001	-0.437	< 0.001	-0.185	0.082	-0.346	0.001
ALT (U/L)	0.180	0.090	-0.187	0.077	-0.020	0.852	0.165	0.119
AST (U/L)	0.395	< 0.001	0.584	< 0.001	0.172	0.104	0.495	< 0.001
ALP (U/L)	0.482	< 0.001	0.354	< 0.001	0.136	0.202	0.406	< 0.001
γ-GGT (U/L)	0.437	< 0.001	-0.023	0.828	0.036	0.736	-0.043	0.689
TBIL (umol/L)	0.471	< 0.001	0.559	< 0.001	0.228	0.031	0.540	< 0.001
Cr (umol/L)	-0.080	0.451	-0.024	0.823	-0.187	0.078	0.003	0.981
Child-pug score	0.418	0.001	0.387	0.002	0.203	0.117	0.380	0.003

IL: Interleukin; HB: Hemoglobin; PLT: Blood platelet; Alb: Albumin; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; γ-GGT: Gamma-glutamyltransferase; TBIL: Total bilirubin; Cr: Creatinine; WBC: White blood cell.