Overweight and obesity, hepatic steatosis, and progression of chronic hepatitis C: a retrospective study on a large cohort of patients in the United States.

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Hu, Ke-Qin Kyulo, Namgyal L. Esrailian, Eric Thompson, Kevin A. Chase, R. F. Hillebrand, Donald J. Runyon, Bruce Allen
Copyright Year	2004
Abstract	BACKGROUND Hepatic steatosis has been associated with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), but its prevalence, risk factors, and clinical significance remain to be determined. AIMS The present study determined the frequency of, and risk factors for hepatic steatosis and its association with activity and progression of CHC in a large cohort of U.S. patients. METHODS This is a retrospective study that utilized systematic chart review and statistical analyzes to investigate 324 U.S. patients with CHC from a university medical center and a regional VA medical center. RESULTS The frequency of hepatic steatosis was 66.0%. We demonstrated that not only being obese, but also overweight (i.e. body mass index > or =25 kg/m(2)) was independently associated with hepatic steatosis. In our cohort of patients with CHC, hepatic steatosis, especially grade II/III steatosis, was significantly associated with elevated aspartate aminotransferase at entry, persistently elevated alanine aminotransferase, and stage III/IV fibrosis. Grade II/III steatosis, was significantly associated with a higher histology activity index as well. Multivariate analysis indicated that steatosis, especially grade II/III steatosis, was independently associated with stage III/IV fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS Being overweight/obese serves as an independent risk factor for hepatic steatosis in U.S. patients with CHC. Steatosis accelerates activity and progression of CHC, and is independently associated with stage III/IV hepatic fibrosis in these patients.
Starting Page	1
Ending Page	4
Page Count	4
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://hepcresource.amjmed.com/Content/pdfs/Ke-Qin_Overweight.pdf
PubMed reference number	14672626v1
Volume Number	40
Issue Number	1
Journal	Journal of hepatology
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Academic Medical Centers Alanine Aspartate Transaminase Aspartic Acid Body mass index Chart evaluation by healthcare professional Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury Fatty degeneration Fibrosis Hepatitis C, Chronic Hepatitis, Chronic Liver diseases Obesity Overweight Patients Steatohepatitis Transaminases
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article