Liver Disease

Coffee and Tea Consumption Linked to Liver Fibrosis Progression

Frequently consuming coffee or herbal tea is inversely related with liver stiffness, but not with steatosis, according to the results of a recent study.

For their study, the researchers used data from the Rotterdam Study, an ongoing prospective population-based cohort. They included 2424 participants who underwent transient elastography, ultrasound, and completed food frequency questionnaires. The participants were categorized based on coffee and tea consumption—no consumption, moderate (>0-3 cups per day), or frequent (⩾3 cups per day)—and whether they consumed green, black, or herbal tea. The researchers defined significant fibrosis as liver stiffness measurements (LSM) of ⩾8.0 kPa.
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Overall, 5.2% of the included participants had LSM ⩾8.0 kPa and 34.6% steatosis. The proportion of LSM ⩾8.0 kPa decreased with higher coffee intake (7.8%, 6.9% and 4.1% for no, moderate and frequent respectively). Only herbal tea consumption was associated with lower log-transformed LSM following adjustment.

“In the general population, frequent coffee and herbal tea consumption were inversely related with liver stiffness but not steatosis. Longitudinal analyses, as well as studies validating and unravelling underlying mechanisms are needed,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Alferink LJM, Fittipaldi J, Kiefte-de Jong JC, et al. Coffee and herbal tea consumption is associated with lower liver stiffness in the general population: The Rotterdam study [published online June 1, 2017]. Hepatology. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2017.03.013.