title: Hepatic iron in African Americans who underwent liver biopsy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Primary iron overload in African Americans has been reported predominantly from autopsy studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We characterized hepatic iron phenotypes in 83 African Americans who underwent liver biopsy during the interval 1990 to 1995. We tabulated pathology report form data, iron grades in hepatocytes (0-4) and Kupffer cells (0-3) and abnormal liver histology. Increased iron was defined as hepatocyte or Kupffer iron grades ≥ 2, respectively. Heavy iron was defined as hepatocyte iron grade 3 or 4. Primary iron overload was defined as the presence of grade 3 or 4 hepatocellular iron in the absence of evidence of chronic alcohol effect, viral hepatitis, steatosis, unexplained inflammation, chronic erythrocyte transfusion or chronic ingestion of iron supplements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 37 men and 46 women (mean age: 53 ± 15 [SD] years). We observed heavy ethanol consumption, 12.0%; viral hepatitis, 26.5%; steatosis without heavy ethanol consumption, 43.4%; inflammation, 45.6%; fibrosis, 26.2% and bridging fibrosis/cirrhosis, 29.4%. Logistic regression on bridging fibrosis/cirrhosis revealed positive associations with heavy ethanol consumption (P = 0.0410) and viral hepatitis (P = 0.0044). The 22 patients (26.5%) with increased iron had greater mean age, proportion of men and heavy ethanol consumption. Five patients had heavy iron staining, among whom were 3 women (mean age: 54 years) with primary iron overload. Two of the 3 women had cirrhosis and diabetes mellitus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among 83 adult African Americans who underwent liver biopsy, 3.6% had hepatic iron phenotypes consistent with primary iron overload.
authors.affiliation: Southern Iron Disorders Center (JaCB, JClB), Birmingham, Alabama; Department of Medicine (JaCB), University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Department of Medicine (JaCB, LFB), Brookwood Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama; Brookwood Biomedical (LFB), Birmingham, Alabama; Department of Pathology (TJA), Brookwood Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama; and Department of Medicine (CQE), Intermountain Medical Center and University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: Luigi F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Bertoli
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Alford
authors.forename: J Clayborn
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: Corwin Q
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Edwards
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000378:metabolism; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D007728:Kupffer Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D007501:Iron