title: Body mass index in Japanese patients with autoimmune liver disease: overweight patients with primary biliary cirrhosis tend to be asymptomatic.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan. kandat@aol.com
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yokosuka
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Imazeki
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirasawa
authors.forename: Tetsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeuchi
authors.forename: Rintaro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mikata
authors.forename: Kai Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurihara
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukai
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saisho
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mikami
authors.forename: Ryosaku
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Azemoto
authors.forename: Yoshimi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: 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*