The effect of acetaminophen (four grams a day for three consecutive days) on hepatic tests in alcoholic patients – a multicenter randomized study

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients in acetaminophen and placebo groups

	Acetaminophen group (n = 308)	Placebo group (n = 135)	p-value*
Age:
Mean ± SD	43 ± 9	44 ± 8	0.399
Range	18–72	20–65
Male (%)	284 (92)	128 (95)	0.322
Ethnic Origin (%):
Caucasian	156 (51)	68 (50)	0.830
Hispanic	45 (15)	22 (16)
African Descent	49 (16)	16 (12)
Native American	43 (14)	23 (17)
Other	15 (5)	6 (4)
Body Mass Index:
Mean ± SD	25 ± 5	25 ± 4
Range	15–55	17–39
Breath alcohol level at presentation to detoxification site:			0.711
Mean ± SD	0.161 ± 0.093	0.157 ± 0.099
Range	0.001–0.710	0.001–0.550
Self-reported alcoholic (%)	301 (98)	133 (99)	0.729
Duration of most recent drinking binge:
< 1 week	56 (18)	22 (16)	0.193
1–4 weeks	98 (32)	36 (27)
> 1 month	154 (50)	76 (56)
Not reported	0 (0)	1 (1)
CAGE (no. of yes answers; mean ± SD)	3.3 ± 0.9	3.3 ± 0.9	0.645
Alanine aminotransferase:
mg/dL	49 ± 38	47 ± 37	0.398
Range	4–189	8–175
Aspartate aminotransferase:
IU/L	55 ± 39	55 ± 38	0.650
Range	6–198	12–194
International normalized ratio:			0.652
INR	0.96 ± 0.09	0.96 ± 0.09
Range	0.79–1.40	0.80–1.30
Albumin:			0.589
g/dl	3.94 ± 0.45	3.93 ± 0.37
Range	2.1–4.8	2.8–4.0
Total bilirubin:
mg/dL	0.74 ± 0.53	0.68 ± 0.45	0.286
Range	0.1–4.1	0.1–2.8
Gamma glutamyl transferase:
IU/L	161 ± 308	168 ± 274	0.799
Range	9.0–3492	12.0–1893

*Standardized values based upon upper limit of normal were used to calculate p-values.
Normal ranges for Denver and Seattle sites are as follows. Alanine aminotransferase: Denver, ALT 5–40 mg/dL male, 5–36 mg/dL female; Seattle, 0–50 IU/L and 2–60 IU/L male, 2–40 IU/L female. Aspartate aminotransferases: Denver, 9–36 IU/L; Seattle: 0–50 IU/L and 2–50 IU/L male, 2–35 IU/L female (both). International normalized ratio: Denver, 0.82–1.17; Seattle, 0.9–1.1. Total bilirubin: Denver, 0.2–1.2 mg/dL; Seattle: 0.1–1.2 mg/dL and 0.2–1.5 mg/dL male, 0.2–1.3 mg/dl female. Gamma glutamyl transferase: Denver, 6–50 IU/L; Seattle: 5–105 IU/L male, 2–98 IU/L female and 2–80 IU/L male, 2–60 IU/L female. Albumin: Denver, 3.4–5.5 g/dl; Seattle, 3.3–5.0 and 3.5–4.9 g/dl

ISSN: 1741-7015