Gender differences in liver fibrosis among patients younger than 50 years: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Liver fibrosis is a metabolic disease associated with several factors, mainly age, gender, immune suppression, viral hepatitis, alcohol and metabolic diseases. Here, we are assessing the gender impact on liver status in NAFLD patients younger than 50 years.

METHODS

All males younger than 50 years and premenopausal females diagnosed with NAFLD were included in this study. Fibroscan results, demographics and clinical data were collected and analyzed by SPSS software. Patients were stratified based on fibrosis scores as mild or no fibrosis for F0-F1-F2 and severe fibrosis for F3 and F4. Data was analyzed and compared based on gender.

RESULTS

A total of 221 patients 134 males and 80 premenopausal females were included. Factors that affected liver fibrosis scores were different between males and females, where only body-mass index (BMI), white blood cells (WBC) count, and glucose level were associated with severe liver fibrosis in females. Also, liver fibrosis scores were associated with severe liver fibrosis in males only, no difference in these scores was observed in premenopausal females with severe or mild liver fibrosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Gender differences are prominent in NAFLD and different factors are associated with liver status in males as compared to females. Besides, fibrosis score could predict liver status in males but not in females. Further larger-scale studies are necessary to verify gender impact on liver fibrosis development.