Alcohol drinking patterns and the risk of fatty liver in Japanese men.
BACKGROUND
Alcohol is considered to be a major cause of fatty liver (FL). In contrast, however, recent investigations have suggested that moderate alcohol consumption is protective against FL. To clarify the role of alcohol consumption in FL development, we examined the association between drinking patterns and FL prevalence.


METHODS
We enrolled 9,886 male participants at regular medical health checks. Each subject's history of alcohol consumption was determined by questionnaire. The subjects were classified according to alcohol consumption as non-, light, moderate, and heavy drinkers (0, <20, 20-59, and ≥60 g/day, respectively). FL was defined by ultrasonography. Independent predictors of FL were determined by logistic regression analysis.


RESULTS
The prevalence of FL displayed a "U-shaped curve" across the categories of daily alcohol consumption (non-, 44.7%; light, 39.3%; moderate, 35.9%; heavy drinkers, 40.1%; P < 0.001). The prevalence of FL was associated positively with body mass index and other obesity-related diseases and inversely with alcohol consumption (light, odds ratio [OR] 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.59-0.86; moderate, OR 0.55, CI 0.45-0.67; heavy, OR 0.44, CI 0.32-0.62) as determined by multivariate analysis after adjusting for potential confounding variables. In addition, examination of drinking patterns (frequency and volume) revealed that the prevalence of FL was inversely associated with the frequency of alcohol consumption (≥21 days/month) (OR 0.62, CI 0.53-0.71) but not with the volume of alcohol consumed.


CONCLUSIONS
Our observations suggest that alcohol consumption plays a protective role against FL in men, and consistent alcohol consumption may contribute to this favorable effect.
Department of Internal Medicine, Kagoshima Kouseiren Hospital, Kagoshima, Japan.
Yasunari
Y
Hiramine
Yasushi
Y
Imamura
Hirofumi
H
Uto
Chihaya
C
Koriyama
Masahisa
M
Horiuchi
Makoto
M
Oketani
Kaori
K
Hosoyamada
Ken
K
Kusano
Akio
A
Ido
Hirohito
H
Tsubouchi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D044466:Asian People; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000431:Ethanol