Serum Glycocholic Acid-to-Total Bile Acid Ratio Is Independently Associated with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study
Table 1
Comparison of clinical characteristics and biochemical data between subjects with NAFLD and those without NAFLD in the development and validation cohort.
Development cohort
Validation cohort
Non-NAFLD ()
NAFLD ()
Non-NAFLD ()
NAFLD ()
Clinical characteristics
Age (years)
42 (35-52)
47 (39-55)
44 (36-53)
47 (39-55)
Gender (male %)
2104 (54.7)
2162 (75.6)
422 (53.8)
627 (80.0)
BMI (kg/m2)
22.9 (21.1-24.7)
26.4 (24.7-28.3)
22.8 (21.1-24.7)
27 (25.2-28.9)
Systolic pressure (mmHg)
121 (111-133)
131 (120-143)
121 (112-134)
131 (121-142)
Diastolic pressure (mmHg)
74 (66-82)
81 (73-89)
74 (67-82)
82 (75-90)
Hypertension (%)
735 (19.1)
1009 (32.3)
176 (22.4)
293 (37.3)
Diabetes (%)
88 (2.3)
259 (9.1)
24 (3.1)
121 (15.4)
Metabolic syndrome (%)
221 (5.7)
733 (25.6)
46 (5.9)
84 (10.7)
Biochemical data
GCA (μg/mL)
1.28 (1.08-1.50)
1.30 (1.10-1.53)
1.27 (1.05-1.52)
1.43 (1.25-1.65)
TBA (μmol/L)
2.5 (1.8-3.7)
2.8 (2.0-4.2)
2.5 (1.8-4.0)
3.0 (2.1-4.4)
GCA-to-TBA ratio
0.48 (0.36-0.64)
0.44 (0.33-0.60)
1.02 (0.78-1.35)
0.47 (0.36-0.65)
ALT (IU/L)
17 (13-24)
28 (20-42)
17 (12-24)
31 (22-47)
AST (IU/L)
21 (18-24)
24 (20-30)
20 (17-24)
26 (22-32)
ALP (IU/L)
69 (57-84)
76 (64-89)
69 (57-84)
77 (66.7-90)
γ-GT (IU/L)
18 (14-28)
33 (22-54)
18 (14-27)
38 (25-63.25)
BUN (mmol/L)
4.9 (4.2-5.8)
5.1 (4.4-5.9)
4.9 (4.2-5.8)
5.2 (4.4-5.9)
Creatinine (μmol/L)
77 (66-87)
81 (72-89)
76 (65.5-87)
83 (74-91)
Uric acid (μmol/L)
322 (266-386)
387 (331-448)
318.3 (263-383)
399 (347-459)
FBG (mmol/L)
4.93 (4.49-5.23)
5.21 (4.89-5.70)
4.94 (4.66-5.29)
5.38 (4.99-6.00)
Triglyceride (mmol/L)
1.08 (0.79-1.51)
1.81 (1.3-2.56)
1.09 (0.80-1.50)
1.97 (1.40-2.70)
Total cholesterol (mmol/L)
4.86 (4.27-5.50)
5.19 (4.59-5.83)
4.88 (4.26-5.54)
5.25 (4.65-5.88)
HDL-C (mmol/L)
1.29 (1.11-1.49)
1.11 (0.99-1.28)
1.30 (1.12-1.50)
1.08 (0.96-1.11)
LDL-C (mmol/L)
3.09 (2.65-3.59)
3.42 (2.98-3.90)
3.09 (2.63-3.62)
3.45 (3.01-3.92)
FFA (μmol/L)
0.42 (0.31-0.52)
0.44 (0.35-0.56)
0.43 (0.32-0.53)
0.45 (0.37-0.57)
Data are shown as the median and interquartile range (IQR) or percentages. values were from the analysis of the Wilcoxon rank sum test or Pearson’s test. A two-tailed value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. NAFLD: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; BMI: body mass index; GCA: glycocholic acid; TBA: total bile acids; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; γ-GT: γ-glutamyl transpeptidase; BUN: blood urea nitrogen; FBG: fasting blood glucose; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; FFA: free fatty acid.
