ArticlesUnexplained Elevations in Alanine Aminotransferase in Individuals with the Metabolic Syndrome: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES III)
Section snippets
Methods
The NHANES III was conducted in the United States from 1988 through 1994 by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The NHANES III used complex, multistage, stratified, clustered samples of civilian, noninstitutionalized populations 2 months of age and older to collect information about the health and diet of people in the United States. A detailed description of the survey and its sampling procedures are available on its website.16 This
Results
Our study cohort consisted of 16,865 participants, and their demographic and clinical characteristics are shown in Table 1. The prevalence of unexplained elevations in ALT level in this cohort was 4.5%, and the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 26%. These rates are in agreement with the previously reported estimates of unexplained elevations in ALT level and the metabolic syndrome in NHANES III 8., 9., 24., 25., 26.
Discussion
In this study, we systematically examined the relationship between the metabolic syndrome and unexplained elevations in ALT level. Subjects with the metabolic syndrome had a significantly higher prevalence of unexplained elevations in ALT than those without the metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in individuals with unexplained elevations in ALT level was significantly higher than the matched control subjects, with a relative risk of 1.79 (95% CI, 1.49-2.14).
In this
Conclusion
In this study, we have shown a strong relationship between unexplained elevations in ALT level and the metabolic syndrome. However, this association may not be as significant as the association between the metabolic syndrome and its five individual components. Because unexplained elevations in ALT may signify the presence of NAFLD in adult NHANES III participants, our results further define the relationship between NAFLD and the metabolic syndrome.
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