Caffeinated Coffee May Protect Against Liver Fibrosis In Certain Patients

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is associated with obesity, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and other associated metabolic conditions.  Fibrosis in chronic liver disease, regardless of etiology is generally thought to be irreversible.  

Good news from Army medicine suggesting that if you drink coffee with your hamburger, fries and milkshake you may gain some protective effect from the coffee in terms of liver injury and fibrosis. Bad news is that other caffeinated drinks may not have as a protective effect as coffee.

Medscape (2/7, Newman) reports, "Drinking caffeinated coffee protects against liver fibrosis in patients with" nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), according to a study published in the February issue of Hepatology. "The new finding comes from a validated caffeine questionnaire administered to four patient groups" comprising 306 patients "at the Brooke Army Medical Center Hepatology Clinic in Fort Sam Houston, Texas: negative controls, bland steatosis/not-NASH, NASH stage 0 to 1, and NASH stage 2 to 4." Notably, "no other caffeinated beverages showed a correlation with any dimension of liver protection (e.g., NASH, insulin resistance, diabetes, liver enzymes)."