Diet May Influence Liver Disease Progression

July 15, 2009

Diet May Influence Liver Disease ProgressionIncreased long-term risk of

cirrhosis, liver cancer linked to diets high in protein and cholesterol

Publish date: Jul 13, 2009

MONDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) -- Dietary nutrient composition may be

associated with an increased or decreased long-term risk of developing cirrhosis

or liver cancer, according to a study published in the July issue of Hepatology.

George N. Ioannou, M.D., of the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System

in Seattle, and colleagues studied 9,221 subjects ages 25 to 74 years who were

enrolled in the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and were

cirrhosis-free at baseline and during the first five years of follow-up.

After a mean follow-up of 13.3 years, the researchers found that 118 subjects

had developed cirrhosis and that five had developed liver cancer. After

adjusting for potential confounders, the researchers found a high-protein diet

was associated with an increased risk of hospitalization or death resulting from

cirrhosis or liver cancer, while a high-carbohydrate diet was associated with a

decreased risk. They also found that high cholesterol consumption -- but not

serum cholesterol or total fat consumption -- was associated with an increased

risk of cirrhosis or liver cancer.

" Many determinants of liver disease progression are currently unknown, as

evidenced by the fact that we cannot predict accurately which patients with any

of the major liver diseases (hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus, nonalcoholic

fatty liver disease, and alcoholic liver disease) will progress to cirrhosis and

which ones will have a relatively benign course, " the authors conclude. " Our

study raises the possibility that dietary factors may be important, modifiable,

and hitherto unrecognized determinants of liver disease progression. "

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