Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33230736›Full record

ArticleJournal of racial and ethnic health disparities2021

African Americans Demonstrate Significantly Lower Serum Alanine Aminotransferase Compared to Non-African Americans.

Adarsh Varma, Sheri Trudeau, Yueren Zhou, Syed-Mohammed Jafri, Richard Krajenta, Lois Lamerato, Kimberly Brown, Veronica Luzzi, Mei Lu, Stuart C Gordon

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Article in Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 45% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Adarsh VarmaDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Henry Ford Health System, 3E One Ford Place, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA.
Sheri TrudeauDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA.
Yueren ZhouDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA.
Syed-Mohammed JafriDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Henry Ford Health System, 3E One Ford Place, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA.
Richard KrajentaDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA.
Lois LameratoDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA.
Kimberly BrownDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Henry Ford Health System, 3E One Ford Place, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA.
Veronica LuzziProvidence Health and Services Regional Laboratory, Portland, OR, USA.
Mei LuDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA.
Stuart C GordonDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Henry Ford Health System, 3E One Ford Place, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA. sgordon3@hfhs.org.
Henry Ford Health System · USProvidence Health & Services · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

aimsNormal ranges of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) may vary by race. However, results from research studies are contradictory, and many of these studies have included only small numbers of African Americans. We investigated ALT values in patients without evidence of liver disease to determine whether normal ranges differ across race groups. We also evaluated whether a race- and sex-dependent upper limit of normal (ULN) would improve the ability of ALT to predict liver disease compared to the sex-dependent ULN currently in use.

methodsWe identified ICD9 codes for liver conditions and diabetes in medical records from a sample of 6719 patients. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess differences in ALT log-transformed distributions by race. Logistic regression was used to evaluate whether the addition of race to the current sex-dependent ULN improves the ability of ALT to predict liver disease (assessed by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC)).

resultsAmong 1200 patients with BMI 18.5 < 25 and no evidence of liver disease or type 2 diabetes in their medical record, African Americans demonstrated significantly lower ALT (23.47 IU/L; 95% CL 22.87-24.10) than a combined group of Asian American/White/Other patients (25.71 IU/L; 95% CL 24.69-26.77). This difference remained across BMI categories. The race- and sex-dependent model demonstrated significantly better predictive ability than the sex-dependent model (AUROC = 66.6% versus 59.6%, respectively; p < 0.0001).

conclusionsIn a large, racially diverse sample, African Americans demonstrated significantly lower ALT compared to non-African Americans; this difference remained as BMI increased. The establishment of race-specific normal ranges for ALT could contribute to better screening and care for African American patients.

Indexed as

Black or African AmericanDiabetes Mellitus, Type 2Alanine TransaminaseHumansLogistic ModelsReference ValuesAlanine TransaminaseALTBMIHealth disparitiesRaceReference range intervals

Identifiers

PMID33230736
OpenAlexW3109746855

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.