GPT and hepatocellular carcinoma: Forty-eight patients were further excluded for the following reasons: 1 patient had concurrent HCC, 32 patients had ALT or AST levels ≥ 5 times of ULN, and 15 patients had BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2; thus, 145 patients met the study criteria and were included in the final analysis (Figure 1).