ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Hsieh, et al., Hepatic Steatosis and Fibrosis in Chronic Hepatitis C in Taiwan</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <P>Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 60 (6), 377-381, 2007</P> <P><FONT COLOR="#990099">To see a printable version of the article in the Adobe file format, click this [</FONT><A HREF="377.pdf">PDF</A><FONT COLOR="#990099">] link.</FONT></P> <P>Original Article</P> <P><B><FONT SIZE="+2">Hepatic Steatosis and Fibrosis in Chronic Hepatitis C in Taiwan</FONT></B></P> <P><B>Meng-Hsuan Hsieh<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>1</sup></Font>, Li-Po Lee<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>2</sup></Font>, Ming-Yen Hsieh<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>2</sup></Font>, Kun-Bow Tsai<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>3</sup></Font>, Jee-Fu Huang<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>4</sup></Font>, Nai-Jen Hou<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>4</sup></Font>, Shinn-Chern Chen<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>2,5</sup></Font>, Zu-Yau Lin<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>2,5</sup></Font>, Ming-Yuh Hsieh<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>2,5</sup></Font>, Liang-Yen Wang<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>2,5</sup></Font>, Chia-Yen Dai<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>1,2,5,6</sup></Font>*, Wan-Long Chuang<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>2,5</sup></Font> and Ming-Lung Yu<FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>2,5</sup></Font></B></P> <P><FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>1</sup></Font>Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, <FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>3</sup></Font>Department of Pathology, and <FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>4</sup></Font>Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal HsiaoKang Hospital; <FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>2</sup></Font>Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital; <FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>5</sup></Font>Faculty of Internal Medicine and <FONT SIZE="-1"><sup>6</sup></Font>Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan</P> <P>(Received May 21, 2007. Accepted September 5, 2007)</P> <P><HR ALIGN=LEFT></P> <P>*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, 100 Tzyou 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan. Tel: +886-7-3121101 ext. 7475, Fax: +886-7-3234553, E-mail: d820195@yahoo.com.tw</P> <P><HR ALIGN=LEFT></P> <P><B>SUMMARY</B>: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been associated with hepatic steatosis. However, the role of hepatic steatosis in the pathogenesis of HCV infection remains controversial. In our study, 425 consecutive HCV-viremic patients with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis C (male, 264; mean age, 49.0 years) were enrolled. Scoring of hepatic steatosis was based on the method described by Kleiner and on histopathology performed using the Knodell and Scheuer systems. HCV RNA level and genotypes were determined at the time of biopsy. Hepatic steatosis was observed in 30.8% of patients, including 113 mild, 16 moderate, and 3 with severe hepatic steatosis. Patients with a body mass index (BMI) <23 kg/m<sup>2</sup> had a significantly lower rate (18.9%) of hepatic steatosis (<I>P</I><0.001). Hepatic steatosis did not correlate with the hepatic necroinflammatory activity, but was related to hepatic fibrosis (<I>P</I>=0.035). Hepatic steatosis was also not associated with HCV RNA level, and the distribution was similar between patients with HCV genotype 1 and genotype 2 infection. According to multivariate analysis, BMI is the strongest risk factor associated with hepatic steatosis, followed by hepatic fibrosis and triglyceride level with odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 2.51 (1.49-4.23), 2.06 (1.14-3.70), and 1.02 (1.01-1.03), respectively. Hepatic steatosis was associated with being overweight, hepatic fibrosis, and triglyceride level in chronic hepatitis C.</P> <P><HR ALIGN=LEFT></P> <P><A HREF="http://www.nih.go.jp/JJID/jjid.html">Go to JJID Homepage</A></P> <P><A HREF="60-6.html">Go to JJID 60 (6) Contents</A> </BODY> </HTML>