Hepatitis B Surface Antigen, Hepatitis C Virus Antibody, Body Mass Index, and Alcohol Drinking among Workers with Elevated Serum Alanine Aminotransferase

• Published in: Preventive medicine 1994-07, Vol.23 (4), p.442-446
• Main Authors: Une, H., Esaki, H., Momose, Y., Ishii, T., Watanabe, D., Shigematsu, T., Inoue, T., Hisanaga, F., Yoshinaga, K., Kamo, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; alanina; alanine; Alanine Transaminase - blood; Alcohol Drinking; alcoholic beverages; aminotransferasas; aminotransferase; aminotransferases; antibodies; anticorps; anticuerpos; antigene; antigenos; antigens; Antigens, Viral - isolation & purification; bebidas alcoholicas; body fluids; Body Mass Index; boisson alcoolisee; Case-Control Studies; Female; femme; hepatite; hepatitis; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens - isolation & purification; Hepatitis C - immunology; Hepatitis C Antigens; hombres; homme; Humans; japan; japon; liquide biologique; liquidos corporales; Liver Diseases - blood; Liver Diseases - immunology; Liver Diseases - physiopathology; Male; meal patterns; men; Middle Aged; mujeres; obreros; Odds Ratio; ouvrier; pautas alimentarias; peso; poids; Regression Analysis; schema alimentaire; weight; women; workers
• ISSN: 0091-7435; 1096-0260
• DOI: 10.1006/pmed.1994.1060

Method. We conducted a case-control study on liver diseases among Japanese workers to examine associations between elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (alanine aminotransferase value ≥ 50 IU/liter) and selected factors such as hepatitis B surface antigen positive, hepatitis C virus antibody positive, body mass index, and alcohol drinking. Out of 3,738 workers (1,477 males and 2,261 females) in a supermarket chain, 91 workers with an elevated serum alanine aminotransferase value (≥ 50 IU/liter) were classified as cases and 182 workers with normal serum alanine aminotransferase value and without an episode of blood transfusion were randomly selected as controls. Results. Prevalence rates of hepatitis B surface antigen positive and hepatitis C virus antibody positive were 4.4 and 23.1% among the overall cases, 2.9 and 11.8% among the cases with 100 > alanine aminotransferase value ≥ 50, and 8.7 and 56.5% among the cases with alanine aminotransferase value ≥ 100. A logistic regression analysis was conducted. Odds ratios were 4.94 for hepatitis B surface antigen positive ( P < 0.05) and 77.19 for hepatitis C virus antibody positive ( P < 0.001). Odds ratios for body mass index increased with increasing body mass index values; 3.32 for 26 > body mass index ≥ 24 ( P < 0.01) and 5.03 for body mass index ≥ 26 ( P < 0.001). No increased risk was observed among regular drinkers of less than 27 g/day of ethanol (odds ratio is 0.23) or of 27-53 g/day of ethanol (odds ratio is 0.47). A slightly increased odds ratio of 1.35 was observed among regular drinkers of 54-81 g/day of ethanol, but this was not statistically significant. Conclusions. Our results suggest that hepatitis C virus and high body mass index are predominant factors in elevated serum alanine aminotransferase levels among Japanese workers, while alcohol drinking is a minor factor.