Methotrexate-Associated Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease with Transaminitis in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Table 1

Comparison of characteristics between cases and controls.

Demographic variables	Cases (𝑛=46)	Controls (𝑛=92)	𝑃 value
Age	54.28±9.50	60.45±10.65	0.487
Ethnic groups
Chinese	36 (78.3%)	75 (81.5%)	0.891
Malays	5 (10.9%)	9 (9.8%)
Indians	5 (10.9%)	8 (8.7%)
Gender
Female	37 (80.4%)	72 (78.3%)	0.768
Male	9 (19.6%)	20 (21.7%)
Seropositive (rheumatoid factor positive)	25 (54.3%)	51 (55.4%)	0.184
Body mass index (kg/m^2)	25.82±6.16	24.50±4.33	0.312
Disease duration (months)	116.76±87.86	108.60±20.78	0.402
Duration on MTX (months)	50.60±23.63	47.31±26.93	0.531
Disease activity score (DAS 28)	2.03±0.83	2.28±0.73	0.078
Diabetes mellitus	13 (28.3%)	31 (33.7%)	0.566
Methotrexate dose (mg/week)	13.09±4.35	11.27±4.75	0.033
Cumulative methotrexate dose (mg)	10,037.09±9,939.05	4,026.80±2,251.83	<0.050
Patients treated with prednisolone	19 (41.3%)	35 (38.0%)	0.716
Prednisolone dose (mg/day)	1.33±1.55	2.20±2.79	0.052
Patients treated with sulfasalazine	18 (39.1%)	27 (29.3%)	0.255
Sulfasalazine dose (g/day)	2.00 (2.0)	2.00 (2.5)	0.143
Patients treated with hydroxychloroquine	16 (34.8%)	35 (38.0%)	0.711
Hydroxychloroquine dose (mg/day)	200.00 (400.0)	300.00 (400.0)	0.251
Patients treated with leflunomide.	11 (23.9%)	25 (27.2%)	0.837
Leflunomide dose (mg/day)	20.00 (10.0)	20.00 (10.0)	0.887
On statin therapy	12 (26.1%)	16 (17.4%)	0.231
LDL (low density lipoprotein) (mmol/L)	3.12±0.72	3.08±0.844	0.851
HDL (high density lipoprotein) (mmol/L)	1.44±0.40	1.52±0.44	0.425
Triglycerides (mmol/L)	1.22±0.65	1.17±0.58	0.680
Total cholesterol (mmol/L)	5.12±0.81	5.14±0.88	0.917
Fasting blood sugar (mmol/L)	5.88±1.94	5.14±0.64	0.029
Creatinine (𝜇mol/L)	69.67±28.51	66.41±19.70	0.434
Glomerular filtration rate (mls/minute)	86.20±26.89	87.80±29.13	0.755

Values are expressed as number (%), median (range), or mean ± SD.