Coffee Consumption and Liver Health: Results From the UK Biobank

Abstract

ObjectivesPrevious studies suggest a positive association between coffee consumption and liver health, yet the evidence available is not unequivocal. Given the burden of liver disease, we studied the relationship of habitual coffee consumption with serum biomarkers of liver health and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) incidence. MethodsWe included 209,575 participants from the UK Biobank cohort (mean age 56.1 and 68% women, median coffee consumption per day 1.00 cup [0.50, 3.00]), free of disease at baseline. Firstly, we studied cross-sectional associations of coffee consumption with serum concentrations of the liver enzymes alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and total bilirubin using multivariable linear regressions. Secondly, we analyzed associations with elevated enzyme concentrations according to clinical cutoffs to monitor liver damage, using logistic regressions. Lastly, in a longitudinal analysis, we assessed the association of coffee consumption and incident NAFLD in cox proportional hazard models. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle and health-related factors. Results are reported as β log transformed IU/L, odds ratio (OR) or hazard ratio (HR) with their 95% confidence intervals [95% CI] per one cup increase in coffee intake. ResultsOver a median follow up of 10.9 years, 2258 cases of incident NAFLD occurred in the population. Higher coffee consumption was associated with lower concentrations of log-transformed ALP (–0.005 [95% CI –0.006, –0.005]), ALT (–0.004 [–0.005, –0.003]), AST (–0.005 [–0.005, –0.004]), GGT (–0.008 [–0.009, –0.007]) and total bilirubin (–0.009 [–0.010, –0.008]). Secondly, higher coffee consumption was associated with lower odds of having elevated levels of all studied liver enzymes (OR from 0.91, [0.89, 0.92] for total bilirubin to 0.98 [0.97, 0.98] for GGT). Finally, higher coffee consumption was associated with lower risk of developing NAFLD (HR 0.98 [0.96, 0.99]). ConclusionsIn this large cohort we observed an inverse association between higher coffee consumption and serum concentrations of baseline liver enzymes and NAFLD risk. These findings suggest that habitual consumption of coffee may be protective of liver health. Funding SourcesN/A.