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Clinicopathological Study of Chronic Hepatitis Induced by Alcohol With or Without Hepatitis G Virus
Author(s) -
Shimanaka Koshi,
Tsutsumi Mikihiro,
Sawada Makoto,
Tsuchishima Mutsumi,
Urashima Sachio,
Ueshima Yasuhiro,
Kawahara Hiromu,
Takase Shujiro
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1999.tb04530.x
Subject(s) - medicine , abstinence , virus , flaviviridae , hepatitis c virus , liver biopsy , hepatitis , gastroenterology , cirrhosis , virology , biopsy , psychiatry
The concept of chronic hepatitis induced by alcohol (AL‐CH) has not been widely accepted, because AL‐CH may be due to non‐A‐E hepatitis virus in heavy drinkers. Recently, hepatitis G virus (HGV) was identified as a positive‐strand RNA virus related to members of the Flaviviridae family. In this study, we determined serum HGV in patients with AL‐CH and analyzed the clinicopathological changes after abstinence to evaluate whether AL‐CH is caused by alcohol or not. Serum samples were obtained from 16 patients with AL‐CH who had neither hepatitis B nor C virus. The diagnosis was confirmed histologically. In eight patients, liver biopsy was performed twice, within 3 days and 4 to 8 weeks after abstinence. The NS3 region of the HGV genome was detected using an reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction method. Serum levels of AST, ALT and ‐γ‐glutamyltranspeptidase were measured once a week sequentially after admission. Serum HGV‐RNA was detected in only one patient with AL‐CH (6.3%). In all patients, including one patient with HGV, serum levels of AST, ALT and γ‐glutamyltranspeptidase clearly decreased to normal levels after abstinence. Inflammatory activity in the periportal area of patients with actively drinking decreased or disappeared after abstinence for 4 to 8 weeks. These results suggest that HGV may not play an important role for development of AL‐CH, and that AL‐CH may be caused by alcohol itself, although a more larger number of patients with AL‐CH are needed to obtain definitive conclusions.