Clinical Features of Hepatitis C-Infected Patients With Persistently Normal Alanine Transaminase Levels in theSouthwestern United States

Clinical Features of Hepatitis C-Infected Patients With Persistently Normal Alanine Transaminase Levels in the Southwestern United States

table 2. Biochemistry of Patients With Persistently Normal and Abnormal ALT

No. of Patients	Normal ALT	Abnormal ALT	P Value
No. of Patients	N = 75	N = 200	P Value

ALT value in males (U/L) mean ± SD	45.6 ± 13.0	151.8 ± 47.6	<.001
ALT value in females (U/L) mean ± SD	35.3 ± 6.1	112.8 ± 33.5	<.001
Iron (µg/dL) mean ± SD	109 ± 76	127 ± 60	NS
TIBC (µg/dL) mean ± SD	339 ± 80	358 ± 71	NS
Iron saturation (%) mean ± SD	32% ± 16.9%	37% ± 6.8%	NS
Ferritin (ng/mL) mean ± SD	128 ± 92	224 ± 128	.017
Bilirubin (mg/dL) mean ± SD	1.00 ± 0.5	1.05 ± 0.5	NS
Albumin (g/L) mean ± SD	3.8 ± 0.5	3.9 ± 0.5	NS
PT (sec) mean ± SD	12.0 ± 1.1	12.7 ± 1.2	NS
RNA (copies/mL) mean ± SD	12 × 10⁵ ± 2.8 × 10⁶	33 × 10⁵ ± 8.0 × 10⁶	.02

Abbreviations: TIBC, total iron binding capacity; PT, prothombin time.