Body mass index in Japanese patients with autoimmune liver disease: overweight patients with primary biliary cirrhosis tend to be asymptomatic.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of being overweight on autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) patients.


RESULTS
44 AIH and 95 PBC patients were enrolled in this study. Body weight and body mass index (BMI) of AIH (57.6 +/- 10.4 kg and 23.8 +/- 2.9 kgm(-2), respectively) were higher than those of PBC (51.6 +/- 7.0 kg and 22.0 +/- 2.6 kgm(-2), respectively) (P < 0.001). The prevalence of overweight patients in AIH was also higher than those in PBC (P < 0.005). Being overweight and having 25 < or = BMI < 30 did not affect the progression of hepatic fibrosis in AIH and PBC. In comparison with the non-overweight with PBC, overweight patients with PBC tended not to be symptomatic, such as having itching or fatigue (P = 0.027).


CONCLUSIONS
Clinicians should be aware that not only non-alcoholic fatty liver disease but also PBC patients might be included among the overweight hepatic disease patients with unknown etiology.
Kanda
Tatsuo
T
Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan. kandat@aol.com
Yokosuka
Osamu
O
Imazeki
Fumio
F
Hirasawa
Yuichi
Y
Ikeuchi
Tetsu
T
Mikata
Rintaro
R
Zhang
Kai Y
KY
Kurihara
Tomoko
T
Arai
Makoto
M
Fukai
Kenichi
K
Saisho
Hiromitsu
H
Mikami
Shigeru
S
Azemoto
Ryosaku
R
Ito
Yoshimi
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D001706:Biopsy; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications*