Table 1 Participant characteristics

 Gender (M/F)

13/24

20/15

33/39

0.610

 MAFLD (Y/N)

16/21

23/12

39/33

0.056

 Age (years)

44.84 (10.23)

53.97 (7.85)

49.28 (10.18)

<0.001

-1.030 (-3.93 to 1.86)

 Waist Circumference (cm)

101.21 (12.30)

116.30 (12.43)

108.55 (14.43)

<0.001

-1.26 (-5.18 to 2.67)

 BMI (kg/m²)

33.62 (4.52)

35.81 (5.04)

34.69 (4.87)

0.056

-0.47 (-1.99 to 1.05)

 LF (%)

6.59 (5.93)

10.25 (7.43)

8.37 (6.90)

0.008

-0.65 (-0.84 to -0.45)

 SBP (mmHg)

122.92 (14.41)

129.41 (16.85)

126.07 (15.87)

0.083

-0.43 (-5.40 to 4.55)

 DBP (mmHg)

79.30 (6.99)

80.16 (9.28)

79.71 (8.14)

0.658

-0.11 (-2.72 to 2.50)

 AST (U/L)

22.32 (9.17)

29.06 (21.05)

25.60 (16.32)

0.080

-0.43 (-5.58 to 4.73)

 ALT (U/L)

22.95 (10.13)

35.17 (23.10)

28.89 (18.59)

0.005

-0.71 (-6.37 to 4.95)

 CRP (mg/L)

4.65 (4.71)

4.11 (4.73)

4.39 (4.70)

0.628

0.12 (-1.38 to 1.62)

 FBG (mmol/L)

4.28 (0.61)

8.21 (3.00)

6.19 (2.90)

<0.001

-1.87 (-2.56 to 1.18)

 ^aInsulin (mU/L)

10.22 (5.96)

12.17 (6.63)

11.08 (6.29)

0.212

-0.32 (-2.32 to 1.68)

 ^aHOMA-IR

2.00 (1.34)

4.43 (2.61)

3.07 (2.33)

<0.001

-1.21 (-1.86 to -0.55)

 Triglycerides (mmol/L)

1.49 (0.86)

1.66 (0.67)

1.57 (0.78)

0.368

-0.23 (-0.47 to 0.02)

 Total Cholesterol (mmol/L)

5.59 (1.25)

4.43 (0.80)

5.03 (1.20)

<0.001

1.14 (0.80 to 1.47)

 HDL (mmol/L)

1.40 (0.32)

1.15 (0.26)

1.28 (0.32)

0.001

0.88 (0.79 to 0.98)

 LDL (mmol/L)

3.53 (0.95)

2.47 (0.75)

3.02 (1.01)

<0.001

1.27 (1.00 to 1.55)

 FFA (umol/L)

389.67 (162.24)

508.71 (198.24)

447.54 (189.09)

0.007

-0.68 (-58.18 to 56.83)

 VO_2peak (mL/kg/min)

22.24 (3.90)

20.75 (3.51)

21.52 (3.77)

0.094

0.41 (-0.77 to 1.59)