Abstract: Objective To explore the effects of different amount of alcohol consumption on liver function and liver fibrosis progression in hepatitis C patients. Methods Hepatitis C Patients treated in our hospital in recent one year and had disease courses of more than 10 years were selected. They were divided into mild alcohol intake group (20g-50g/d) and severe alcohol intake group (more than 50g/d) according to daily amount of alcohol consumption. Liver function and liver fibrosis indicators were detected and compared in both groups of patients. Results The levels of AST (115.12 ± 12.14 U/L), ALT (121.83 ± 11.21 U/L), total bilirubin (TBil) (84.95 ± 6.21 μmol/L) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT) (72.31 ± 9.21 U/L) in mild alcohol intake group were significantly lower than those of AST (141.34 ± 12.91 U/L) and ALT (145.57 ± 10.23 U/L), TBil (95.43 ± 5.38 μmol/L) and γ-GT (85.48 ± 8.24 U/L) levels in severe alcohol intake group (P<0.05). Meanwhile, laminin (LN) (162.38 ± 21.34 mg/L), type III procollagen (PC-III) (146.74 ± 23.43 μg/L), type IV collagen (IV-C) (198.57 ± 30.34 μg/L), Hyaluronidase (HA) (245.98 ± 35.78 mg/L) in mild alcohol intake group were significantly lower than those of LN (185.32 ± 18.52 mg/L), PC-III (174.48 ± 19.74 μg/L), IV-C (231.64 ± 27.45 μg/L) and HA (289.74 ± 20.36 mg/L) in the severe alcohol intake group. Conclusion Alcohol consumption are important factors associate with the deterioration of liver function and the progression of liver fibrosis in hepatitis C patients. The patients should be advised to limit alcohol intake for effectively treating liver disease.

Key words: Alcohol, Hepatitis C virus infection, Liver fibrosis, Liver function