Coffee consumption protects against progression in liver cirrhosis and increases long-term survival after liver transplantation

Kilian Friedrich; Mark Smit; Andreas Wannhoff; Christian Rupp; Sabine G Scholl; Christoph Antoni; Matthias Dollinger; Christoph Neumann-Haefelin; Wolfgang Stremmel; Karl Heinz Weiss; Peter Schemmer; Daniel Nils Gotthardt

doi:10.1111/jgh.13319

Coffee consumption protects against progression in liver cirrhosis and increases long-term survival after liver transplantation

J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016 Aug;31(8):1470-5. doi: 10.1111/jgh.13319.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine IV, University Hospital of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
² Department of Social Psychology, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
³ Department of Medicine II (Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases), University Hospital of Heidelberg at Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Ulm, Ulm, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany.
⁵ Department of Medicine II, Freiburg University Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
⁶ Department of Surgery, University Hospital of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.

PMID: 26880589
DOI: 10.1111/jgh.13319

Abstract

Background: Therapeutic options to treat progression of end-stage liver disease (ESLD) or improve long-term survival after liver transplantation remain scarce. We investigated the impact of coffee consumption under these conditions.

Methods: We recorded coffee consumption habits of 379 patients with ESLD awaiting liver transplantation and 260 patients after liver transplantation. Survival was analyzed based on coffee intake.

Results: One hundred ninety-five patients with ESLD consumed coffee on a daily basis, while 184 patients did not. Actuarial survival was impaired (P = 0.041) in non-coffee drinkers (40.4 ± 4.3 months, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 32.0-48.9) compared with coffee drinkers (54.9 ± 5.5 months, 95% CI: 44.0-65.7). In subgroup analysis, the survival of patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD; P = 0.020) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC; P = 0.017) was increased with coffee intake while unaffected in patients with chronic viral hepatitis (P = 0.517) or other liver disease entities (P = 0.652). Multivariate analysis showed that coffee consumption of PSC and ALD patients retained as an independent risk factor (odds ratio [OR]: 1.94; 95% CI: 1.15-3.28; P = 0.013) along with MELD score (OR: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.09-1.17; P = 0.000). Following liver transplantation, long-term survival was longer in coffee drinkers (coffee: 61.8 ± 2.0 months, 95% CI: 57.9-65.8) than non-drinkers (52.3 ± 3.5 months, 95% CI: 45.4-59.3; P = 0.001).

Conclusions: Coffee consumption delayed disease progression in ALD and PSC patients with ESLD and increased long-term survival after liver transplantation. We conclude that regular coffee intake might be recommended for these patients.

Keywords: actuarial survival free of liver transplantation; coffee consumption; graft failure; liver transplantation; transplantation list.

MeSH terms

Adult
Cholangitis, Sclerosing / complications
Coffee*
Disease Progression
End Stage Liver Disease / diagnosis
End Stage Liver Disease / etiology
End Stage Liver Disease / mortality
End Stage Liver Disease / pathology
End Stage Liver Disease / surgery*
Female
Humans
Kaplan-Meier Estimate
Liver Cirrhosis / diagnosis
Liver Cirrhosis / mortality
Liver Cirrhosis / pathology
Liver Cirrhosis / surgery*
Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / complications
Liver Transplantation* / adverse effects
Liver Transplantation* / mortality
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Odds Ratio
Proportional Hazards Models
Protective Factors
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Survivors*
Time Factors
Treatment Outcome
Waiting Lists* / mortality

Substances

Coffee