UCSF

Background

Heavy alcohol use can lead to progressive liver damage, especially in individuals with chronic hepatitis C (HCV); however, the impact of nonheavy use is not clear. We studied long-term effects of modest alcohol use on fibrosis progression in a large cohort of women coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/HCV.

Methods

Alcohol intake was ascertained every 6 months and use categorized as abstinent, light (1-3 drinks/week), moderate (4-7 drinks/week), heavy (>7 drinks/week), and very heavy (>14 drinks/week). Fibrosis progression was defined as the change in Fibrosis-4 Index for Liver Fibrosis (FIB-4) units per year using random-intercept, random-slope mixed modeling.

Results

Among 686 HIV/HCV-coinfected women, 46.0% reported no alcohol use; 26.8% reported light use, 7.1% moderate use, and 19.7% heavy use (6.7% had 8-14 drinks/week and 13.0% had >14 drinks/week) at cohort entry. Median FIB-4 at entry was similar between groups. On multivariable analysis, compared to abstainers, light and moderate alcohol use was not associated with fibrosis progression (0.004 [95% confidence interval {CI}, -.11 to .12] and 0.006 [95% CI, -.18 to .19] FIB-4 units/year, respectively). Very heavy drinking (>14 drinks/week) showed significant fibrosis acceleration (0.25 [95% CI, .01-.49] FIB-4 units/year) compared to abstaining, whereas drinking 8-14 drinks per week showed minimal acceleration of fibrosis progression (0.04 [95% CI, -.19 to .28] FIB-4 units/year).

Conclusions

Light/moderate alcohol use was not substantially associated with accelerated fibrosis progression, whereas drinking >14 drinks per week showed increased rates of fibrosis progression. Women with HIV/HCV infection should be counseled against heavy alcohol consumption, but complete abstinence may not be required to prevent accelerated liver fibrosis progression.