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Caffeine Consumption Appears Protective Against Liver Injury in At-Risk Populations: Presented at DDW

By Bruce Sylvester

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- May 19, 2004 -- Caffeine consumption, through coffee and other beverages, correlates to lower risks of liver injury among populations at high risk for such problems, according to findings from a study reported here on May 17^th at Digestive Disease Week 2004.

James Everhart, MD, MPH, Chief, Epidemiology and Clinical Trials Branch, Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK), in Bethesda, Maryland, presented the findings.

"In a study of nearly 6,000 adults at high risk for liver injury from excessive drinking, hepatitis B or hepatitis C, obesity or other ills, the higher the consumption of caffeinated beverages, the lower the chance of the elevated liver enzymes that signal an increased risk of liver injury," Dr. Everhart said.

The study included 5,944 adults from the third U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994) who were at high risk for liver injury due to excessive alcohol consumption, hepatitis B or C, iron overload, obesity, or impaired glucose metabolism.

The investigators gathered information on patients' consumption habits for caffeine-containing coffee, tea, and soft drinks. They calculated total caffeine intake from the various sources and divided the subjects into quintiles based on caffeine consumption levels. They noted liver injury by abnormal serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity of more than 43 U/L.

Results show that elevated ALT activity appeared in 8.7% of this high-risk population (P < .05).

In unadjusted analysis, the prevalence of liver injury declined with increased coffee consumption and with increased caffeine consumption from all sources. Following multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, and cigarette smoking, they found that the risk of liver injury dropped with increasing coffee drinking and caffeine consumption.

"These relationships were consistent across subgroups defined by individual risk factors for liver injury and relatively unchanged when analyses included all NHANES III participants or when limited to persons without impaired liver function and without right upper quadrant pain," the authors noted.

The research was supported by NIDDK.


[Presentation title: "Coffee and caffeine consumption protect against liver injury in the united states population.]

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