Mild alcohol consumption is not associated with increased fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis, reports January's issue of the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology.
Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk for fibrosis progression and cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
However, the impact of mild-moderate alcohol use on the severity of liver fibrosis is unclear.
Dr Onpan Cheung assessed the impact of mild alcohol consumption on liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HCV.
The research team enrolled 857 patients with well-characterized chronic HCV.
All underwent liver biopsy to assess hepatic fibrosis.
The mean alcohol consumption was 3 drinks a day
Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology
The duration of HCV infection was determined by detailed questionnaires and personal interviews.
The research team estimated alcohol use history by the Skinner Alcohol Examination Questionnaire.
Mild alcohol use was defined as 1 to 3 alcoholic beverages/day.
The researchers divided participants into 4 groups based on their average lifetime daily alcohol consumption, and into quartiles based on their presumed duration of HCV infection.
The research team found that mean alcohol consumption was 3 drinks a day.
The mean duration of HCV infection was 29 years.
The team observed that daily alcohol consumption was not significantly higher among participants with advanced fibrosis when compared with those with none or portal fibrosis.
The degree of fibrosis increased significantly with the duration of HCV infection, and was independent of mild-moderate alcohol consumption.
Dr Dr Cheung's team concludes, "Mild alcohol use does not seem to adversely affect the severity of fibrosis in patients with chronic HCV."
J Clin Gastroenterol 2011: 45(1): 76–82
06 January 2011
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