Z. Younoszai

Association of Chronic Liver Disease with Depression: A Population-Based Study

OBJECTIVEnChronic liver diseases (CLD) have been associated with depression. Our aim was to assess the association of different types of CLD with depression in a population-based cohort.nnnMETHODSnWe examined data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2005-2010). We included adult patients with chronic hepatitis C (CH-C), chronic hepatitis B (CH-B), alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) survey was used as a depression screener. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine independent variables associated with each type of CLD and depression.nnnRESULTSnThe cohort included 10,231 NHANES participants. After multivariate analysis, CH-C was independently associated with age (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.03-1.07), male gender (OR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.19-2.97), African American race/ethnicity (OR = 2.50, 95% CI:1.50-4.18), smoking (OR = 6.20, 95% CI: 1.62-23.68), injection drug use (OR = 52.86, 95% CI:32.87-85.03), and depression (OR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.78-4.62). CH-B was independently associated with being non-Caucasian (for African Americans OR = 5.09, 95% CI: 2.41-10.76, for other races OR = 4.74, 95% CI: 2.32-9.70). ALD was independently associated with younger age (OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96-0.99), male gender (OR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.19-1.95), Mexican American race/ethnicity (OR = 2.63, 95% CI: 1.87-3.69), and moderate to heavy smoking (OR = 2.08, 95% CI: 1.46-2.96). Finally, presence of insulin resistance [OR = 2.65 95% CI: 1.98-3.55], diabetes [OR = 1.54 95% CI: 1.11-2.13], and Mexican American race/ethnicity [OR = 2.03(1.35-3.06)], were predictive of NAFLD.nnnCONCLUSIONSnAlthough depression has been suspected to be associated with a number of CLD, this association remains strong only for CH-C.

Long-term outcomes of liver transplantation in patients with hepatitis C infection are not affected by HCV positivity of a donor

BackgroundThe use of HCV-positive livers for HCV-positive recipients is becoming more common. Our aim is to evaluate long-term outcomes in liver transplant recipients transplanted with HCV antibody-positive organs.MethodsFrom the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (1995–2013), we selected all adult liver transplant recipients with HCV, and cross-sectionally compared long-term graft loss and mortality rates between those who were transplanted from HCV antibody-positive (HCV+) vs. HCV antibody-negative donors.ResultsWe included 33,668 HCV+ liver transplant recipients (54.0u2009±u20097.7xa0years old, 74.1% male, 71.0% white, 23.6% with liver malignancy). Of those, 5.7% (Nu2009=u20091930) were transplanted from HCV+ donors; the proportion gradually increased from 2.9% in 1995 to 9.4% in 2013. Patients who were transplanted from HCV+ positive donors were more likely to be discharged alive after transplantation (95.4% vs. 93.9%, pu2009=u20090.006), but this difference was completely accounted for by a greater proportion of HCV+ donors in more recent study years (pu2009=u20090.10 after adjustment for the transplant year). After transplantation, both mortality in HCV patients transplanted from HCV+ donors (12.5% in 1xa0year, 24.2% in 3xa0years, 33.0% in 5xa0years) and the graft loss rate (2.2% in 1xa0year, 4.8% in 3xa0years, 7.5% in 5xa0years) were similar to those in HCV patients transplanted from HCV-negative donors (all pu2009>u20090.05).ConclusionsOver the past two decades, the use of HCV+ organs for liver transplantation has tripled. Despite this, the long-term outcomes of HCV+ liver transplant recipients transplanted from HCV+ donors were not different from those who were transplanted with HCV-negative organs.

Anti-adipocyte antibody response in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

A significant number of autoantibodies have been reported in patients with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. In the present study, our aim was to assess the role of disease and cell‐specific antibodies, namely anti‐adipocyte antibodies (anti‐AdAb) in patients with NAFLD and non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Chronic Kidney Disease is Independently Associated with Increased Mortality in Patients with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and chronic kidney disease share similar pathophysiologic features. Our aim was to assess the association between different stages of chronic kidney disease and mortality in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.