Source: Journal of Hepatology June 201; Volume 54, Issue 6, Pages 1123-1129

When looking at chronic hepatitis, evidence points to a relationship between caffeine consumption and improved liver tissue and lab results. Wanting to know more about this, a French team examined the impact of caffeine consumption on the liver in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV). There were 238 study subjects all with HCV (154 men and 84 women). Participants averaged about 408 mg of caffeine daily, mostly in the form of coffee (2 cups dally). Data were independently analyzed to remove other factors, such as alcohol and cigarette use.

The Bottom Line: Patients with HCV who drank the most coffee (3 or more cups a day) tended to have the least amount of inflammation of the liver cells. Researchers did not find a strong association between caffeine consumption and liver fibrosis progression, and suggest further studies. These findings suggest that caffeine or coffee may offer some protection to the liver.

Editorial Comment: There have been quite a few studies looking at the relationship between coffee consumption and HCV. For instance, research published in the June 2011 issue of Gastroenterology showed that HCV patients who drank three or more cups of coffee daily were three times more likely to respond to HCV treatment than patients who didn’t drink coffee.

Since coffee is made of more than a thousand constituents, it is impossible to state which component might be related to lower inflammation scores, or if the reason is related to the coffee at all. For instance, perhaps there is something else that coffee drinkers do or take that is related to improved liver inflammation. A double blind, randomized placebo-controlled study using caffeine would be an excellent tool for gaining more understanding about this.

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– Robert Preidt

FRIDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) — Caffeine in coffee reduces the severity of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus, a new study has found.

Liver fibrosis (scarring of the liver) is the second stage of liver disease during which liver function declines because of accumulated connective tissue.

The new U.S. National Institutes of Health study included 177 patients, mean age 51, whose daily consumption of caffeine from food and beverages was tracked for two years.

Patients who consumed more than 308 milligrams of caffeine from coffee per day had milder liver fibrosis than other patients. The daily amount of caffeine intake found to be beneficial is equivalent to 2.25 cups of regular coffee. For each 67-milligram increase in caffeine consumption (about one half cup of coffee), there was a 14% decrease in the odds of advanced fibrosis for patients with hepatitis C virus.

Other sources of caffeine — such as soft drinks, tea, caffeine-fortified drinks and caffeine pills — didn’t have the same helpful effect, according to the study published in the January issue of the journal Hepatology.

The researchers said further research is needed to determine whether the protective effects of coffee/caffeine increase at levels beyond normal daily intake.