Table 1 Baseline clinical and biochemical characteristics of the study population

 Age (years)

55.4 ± 11.4

55.9 ± 8.8

0.795

 Body mass index (kg/m²)

25.6 ± 4.4

22.1 ± 2.9

< 0.0001

 SBP (mmHg)

130 ± 19

117 ± 17

< 0.0001

 DBP (mmHg)

77 ± 11

74 ± 13

0.194

 Fasting glucose (mg/dl)

121.3 ± 49.8

91.0 ± 6.3

< 0.0001

 Total cholesterol (mg/dl)

195.8 ± 41.6

204.3 ± 33.4

0.198

 Triglycerides (mg/dl)

127.0 (73.8–192.0)

79.0 (52.5–100.5)

0.0001

 HDL-C

62.1 ± 15.4

63.3 ± 13.0

0.651

 LDL-C

110.2 ± 37.8

107.5 ± 25.4

0.653

 AST (U/l)

28.1 ± 17.7

24.5 ± 9.3

0.140

 ALT (U/l)

19.0 (15.0–25.3)

17.0 (14.5–29.0)

0.383

 AST:ALT ratio

1.3 ± 0.4

1.2 ± 0.4

0.783

 APRI

0.1 (0.1–0.1)

0.1 (0.1–0.1)

0.272

 Fibrosis-4 index

1.2 ± 0.8

1.1 ± 0.4

0.137

 Creatinine (mg/dl)

0.90 ± 0.10

0.87 ± 0.20

0.244

 Estimated GFR (ml/min/1.73 m²)

103.4 ± 16.4

107.6 ± 34.8

0.386

 Albumin (g/dl)

4.3 ± 0.3

4.4 ± 0.2

0.480

 WBC count (10⁹/l)

6.921 ± 2.414

4.982 ± 0.994

< 0.0001

 Neutrophil count (10⁹/l)

4578 ± 2232

2959 ± 812

< 0.0001

 Monocyte count (10⁹/l)

350 (279–474)

242 (212–272)

< 0.0001

 Lymphocyte count (10⁹/l)

1838 ± 640

1632 ± 402

0.023

 Red blood cells (× 10⁶/μl)

4.46 ± 0.49

4.57 ± 0.39

0.153

 Hemoglobin (g/dl)

12.8 ± 1.5

13.2 ± 0.9

0.033

 Hematocrit (%)

38.7 ± 4.6

39.7 ± 2.4

0.107

 Platelet count (× 10³/μl)

269.4 ± 80.3

252.8 ± 56.2

0.146

 L-FABP (ng/ml)

7.6 (5.2–12.1)

6.3 (5.3–8.5)

0.008