title: Persistent rotating shift work exposure is a tough second hit contributing to abnormal liver function among on-site workers having sonographic fatty liver.
abstract: To investigate the relationship between elevated serum alanine-transaminase (e-ALT) and persistent rotating shift work (p-RSW) among employees with sonographic fatty liver (SFL), the authors performed a retrospective analysis on a cohort of electronics manufacturing workers. The records of 758 workers (507 men, 251 women) with initially normal ALT and a mean age of 32.9 years were analyzed. A total of 109 workers (14.4%) developed e-ALT after 5 years. Compared with those having neither initial SFL nor p-RSW exposure, multivariate analysis indicated that employees who had initial SFL but without p-RSW finally had a higher risk (odds ratio = 2.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.7-5.1) for developing e-ALT; workers with baseline SFL plus p-RSW had a 3.7-fold increased risk (95% CI = 1.8-7.5). SFL poses a conspicuous risk for the development of e-ALT, and persistent p-RSW exposure significantly aggravates the development of e-ALT among on-site workers with preexisting SFL.
authors.affiliation: Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan En Chu Kong Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Cheng
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan pchen@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Pau-Chung
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D000410:Alanine Transaminase