P468 - COFFEE CONSUMPTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED LIVER FUNCTION MARKERS IN A JAPANESE POPULATION

P468

COFFEE CONSUMPTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED LIVER FUNCTION MARKERS IN A JAPANESE POPULATION

H. Yamanaka-Okumura^1,*, S. Nakao¹, A. Nishioka¹, O. Chika¹

¹Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts, Kyoto, Japan

Rationale: Coffee consumption has been reported to be associated with a reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. While caffeine is considered one of the main bioactive components, it is also present in green tea, leaving it unclear whether the effects are specific to coffee. We investigated the effects of coffee or green tea consumption, as well as plasma caffeine concentration, on liver function.

Methods: We analyzed the community-based cohort TMM K67 of Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization. A total of 3,746 participants (M/F 1,600/2,146), Age 55.8±13.1y, BMI 23.5±3.7 kg/m² were included. To assess the impact on liver function, multiple regression analyses were performed using beverage intake (water, green tea, coffee) and plasma caffeine concentration. Independent variables included sex, age, waist circumference, BMI, systolic blood pressure, and intake frequency of each beverage. Dependent variables were ALT, AST, and the FIB-4 index.

Results: In the epidemiological analysis, no significant associations were found between the intake of water or green tea and liver function markers. In contrast, coffee intake was negatively correlated with both the AST and FIB-4 index  levels. Furthermore, plasma caffeine concentration was associated with changes in liver function markers that did not reflect improvement.

Conclusion: This study found that water and green tea intake did not exert a clear impact on liver function, whereas coffee intake was associated with improvements in AST and the FIB-4 index. Plasma caffeine concentration did not appear to contribute to the improvement of liver function.

These results suggest that the observed effects may be specific to coffee itself rather than caffeine.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared