title: Modest alcohol consumption has an inverse association with liver fat content.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Modest alcohol consumption has been suggested to be protective against alanine amino-transferase activities and ultrasonography-defined fat-ty liver. We aimed to explore the association between alcohol consumption and liver fat content as quantitative-ly determined by computed tomography (CT).
  
  
  METHODS
  One-thousand two-hundred thirty-one Japanese males, aged over 40 years, voluntarily participated ina health check-up program including CT screening in 2009-2010. Exclusion criteria included positivity for the hepatitis B or C virus, abstinent alcoholics and potential hepatotoxic drug intake. Liver fat content, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tis-sue were determined by CT. The association between alcohol consumption (g/week) and liver attenuation values (HU) was investigated by multivariate analysis with metabolic syndrome factors, liver enzyme activities and physical activities as covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One-thousand one-hundred thirty-eight subjects were eligible for this cross-sectional survey. VAT, triglyceride, glycated hemoglobin and alanine aminotransferase were significant and independent predictors for a decrease of liver attenuation. Alcohol consumption had a significant and independent association with an increase in liver attenuation (correlation coefficient=0.007, 95%CI=0.004-0.011, p<0.001) after adjusting for potential confounding variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alcohol consumption has an inverse association with CT-determined liv-er fat content independent of metabolic syndrome factors, liver enzyme activities and physical activities.
authors.affiliation: Center for Preventive Medicine, NTT Medical Center Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gunji
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Kimiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iijima
authors.forename: Kazutoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujibayashi
authors.forename: Mitsue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okumura
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sasabe
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matsuhashi
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016014:Linear Models; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D050507:Subcutaneous Fat, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers