Impact of moderate alcohol consumption on histological activity and fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C, and specific influence of steatosis:: a prospective study

Aim: To evaluate the effects of minimal to moderate alcohol consumption on the severity of histological lesions in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Methods: Daily alcohol intake (none, 1-20, 21-30, 31-50 g/day) and histological activity and fibrosis were recorded in 260 patients with chronic hepatitis C. Results: The proportion of patients with moderate (A2) or marked (A3) activity increased gradually from 53.8% in abstinent patients to 86.5% for an intake between 31 and 50 g/day (P = 0.003). In multivariate analysis, age > 40 years, alcohol intake between 31 and 50 g/day and moderate or severe steatosis were independently related to histological activity. The proportion of patients with moderate (F2) or marked (F3) fibrosis or cirrhosis (F4) gradually increased from 29.0% in abstinent patients to 67.6% for an intake between 31 and 50 g/day (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis also showed that alcohol intake between 31 and 50 g/day, moderate or severe steatosis and histological activity were independently related to fibrosis. The deleterious effect of alcohol intake on histological lesions differed according to gender. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that both activity and fibrosis gradually increase according to the amount of alcohol ingested, and that even moderate alcohol consumption, as low as 31-50 g/day in men and 21-50 g/day in women, may aggravate histological lesions in patients with chronic hepatitis C.