Does Coffee Slow Fibrosis?

Does Coffee Slow Fibrosis?

Jan 01

Research continues to accumulate showing that coffee may have a beneficial effect on liver health.

As reported in the November 2009 Hepatology, N. Freeman from the National Cancer Institute and colleagues assessed the relationship between coffee consumption and liver disease progression among 766 chronic hepatitis C patients with bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis enrolled in the HALT-C trial who did not achieve sustained response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin.

At study entry, participants who drank more coffee had significantly less severe steatosis, lower AST-to-ALT ratio, lower alpha-fetoprotein (a marker for liver cancer), less insulin resistance, and higher albumin levels than non-coffee-drinkers. Over the nearly four-year follow-up period, participants who drank three or more cups of coffee per day had a 53% lower risk than non-coffee-drinkers of clinical outcomes including ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, bacterial peritonitis, bleeding varices, hepatocellular carcinoma, increased fibrosis, and liver-related death. Outcome rates decreased from 11.1 per 100 person-years for patients who drank no coffee, to 8.2 per 100 person-years for those who drank 1-2 cups per day, to 6.3 per 100 person-years for those who drank three or more cups per day. The researchers did not see a similar effect among individuals who drank black or green tea. "In a large prospective study of participants with advanced hepatitis C-related liver disease," they concluded, "regular coffee consumption was associated with lower rates of disease progression."

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/news/newsRev/2009/HJR-6.12.html#3

Hepatoprotective effects of green tea against carbon tetrachloride, cholestasis and alcohol induced liver fibrosis were reported in many studies. However, the hepatoprotective effect of green tea in dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-induced models has not been studied.

A research article published on November 7, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this. The research team, led by Prof. Hong-Yon Cho from Korea University examined the protective effect of green tea extract (GT) on hepatic fibrosis in a rat HSC line and in a rat model of DMN-induced hepatic fibrosis.

The results showed GT administration prevented the development of hepatic fibrosis in the rat model of DMN-induced liver fibrosis. These results were confirmed both by liver histology and by quantitative measurement of hepatic hydroxyproline content, a marker of liver collagen deposition. Accordingly, inhibition of proliferation, reduced collagen deposition, and type 1 collagen expression were observed in activated HSC-T6 cells following GT treatment. These results imply that GT reduced the proliferation of activated HSC and down regulated the collagen content and expression of collagen type 1, thereby ameliorating hepatic fibrosis.

The researchers drew a conclusion that green tea may protect liver cells and reduce the deposition of collagen fibers in the liver. Green tea provides a safe and effective strategy for improving hepatic fibrosis.

Reference: Kim HK, Yang TH, Cho HY. Antifibrotic effects of green tea on in vitro and in vivo models of liver fibrosis.