Roles of gender, obesity, and lifestyle-related diseases in alcoholic liver disease: Obesity does not influence the severity of alcoholic liver disease

摘要

Aim: To elucidate gender differences and the influence of obesity and/or metabolic syndrome-related fatty liver on alcoholic liver disease (ALD), we analyzed characteristic features of ALD. Methods: We investigated 266 ALD patients (224 males and 42 females) without hepatocellular carcinoma stratified by gender and the presence of cirrhosis. Male and female patients matched for age and total ethanol intake were also analyzed. A diagnosis of ALD was based on alcohol intake (>70g daily for more than 5years), clinical features, and exclusion of other liver diseases. The prevalence of obesity, lifestyle-related diseases, and psychological disorders were assessed. Results: The prevalence of psychological disorders showed a significant gender difference among all ALD patients (12% in males versus 43% in females, P<0.001), as well as in patients matched for age and total ethanol intake. There were 156 cirrhotic patients. Absence of dyslipidemia, presence of diabetes, and high total ethanol intake were selected as independent predictors of cirrhosis in males by multivariate analysis after excluding laboratory data of liver function tests. The prevalence of obesity was significantly lower in cirrhotic male patients than in non-cirrhotic male patients (34% vs. 20%, P=0.023). Among females, there were no significant predictors of cirrhosis on multivariate analysis after eliminating liver function tests. The prevalence of obesity and diabetes was similar in non-cirrhotic and cirrhotic female patients. The prevalence of psychological disorders was 47% in cirrhotic females with ALD. Conclusions: Obesity was not common in cirrhotic ALD. Psychological disorders seem to be important for female ALD.