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Impact of moderate alcohol consumption on histological activity and fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C, and specific influence of steatosis: a prospective study

2003; Wiley; Volume: 17; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1046/j.1365-2036.2003.01546.x

1365-2036

Christophe Hézode, I. Lonjon, F Roudot-Thoraval, Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky, Élie Serge Zafrani, Daniel Dhumeaux,

Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects

Summary Aim : To evaluate the effects of minimal to moderate alcohol consumption on the severity of histological lesions in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Methods : Daily alcohol intake (none, 1–20, 21–30, 31–50 g/day) and histological activity and fibrosis were recorded in 260 patients with chronic hepatitis C. Results : The proportion of patients with moderate (A2) or marked (A3) activity increased gradually from 53.8% in abstinent patients to 86.5% for an intake between 31 and 50 g/day ( P = 0.003). In multivariate analysis, age > 40 years, alcohol intake between 31 and 50 g/day and moderate or severe steatosis were independently related to histological activity. The proportion of patients with moderate (F2) or marked (F3) fibrosis or cirrhosis (F4) gradually increased from 29.0% in abstinent patients to 67.6% for an intake between 31 and 50 g/day ( P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis also showed that alcohol intake between 31 and 50 g/day, moderate or severe steatosis and histological activity were independently related to fibrosis. The deleterious effect of alcohol intake on histological lesions differed according to gender. Conclusions : This study demonstrates that both activity and fibrosis gradually increase according to the amount of alcohol ingested, and that even moderate alcohol consumption, as low as 31–50 g/day in men and 21–50 g/day in women, may aggravate histological lesions in patients with chronic hepatitis C.