Statistical analysis
Data analysis was performed using SPSS (version 20.0; IBM Corp., Armonk,
NY, USA). The distribution of data was checked using the Shapiro–Wilk
test. Continuous data with a normal distribution were expressed as means
± standard deviation; otherwise, data were expressed as medians with
interquartile ranges. Categorical data are presented as counts (%).
Differences between groups were examined using the Student’s t-test,
Mann–Whitney U test, and chi-square test. Correlations between the
differential metabolites and ALT levels were analyzed using Spearman’s
correlation coefficient. Multivariate logistic regression was used to
assess the association between metabolites and the risk of PeALT. The
ability to distinguish between patients with PeALT and PnALT using
different metabolites was evaluated using the area under the receiver
operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). The level of statistical
significance was set at p < 0.05 (two-sided).