Changing Etiology in Liver Cirrhosis in Sapporo, Japan

Hepatocellular carcinoma and other complications of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in Japan: A structured review of published works

AIMS

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Japan. As the treatment of viral hepatitis improves, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are rapidly becoming leading causes of HCC in Japan. This structured review aims to characterize the morbidity and mortality of HCC and other malignant and non-malignant complications among Japanese NAFLD and NASH patients.

METHODS

An English and Japanese structured search of published works was undertaken in PubMed, Embase, and Ichushi Web databases, identifying 6553 studies, 34 of which met predefined inclusion criteria.

RESULTS

Hepatocellular carcinoma was the most common incident malignancy among NAFLD/NASH patients, with higher incidence in patients with advanced/severe fibrosis (F3/F4) of 10.5%-20.0%. Although NASH results in a lower HCC cumulative incidence than hepatitis C virus (HCV) (11.3% vs. 30.5%), they have similar impacts on health outcomes, including overall mortality. Among Japanese NASH patients, HCC was found to be the main driver of mortality (40.0% in 2.7 years in NASH-HCC). With longer follow-up, higher mortality rates are observed in F3/4 patients: 25.0% in NASH F3/F4 versus 0.0% in NASH F0/2 over 7.7 years. The NASH-HCC patients also have a higher post-operative mortality than HCV-HCC patients. Additionally, NAFLD/NASH patients had higher rates of cardiovascular disease than non-NAFLD/NASH controls, and slightly higher rates of gastric cancer than HCV patients.

CONCLUSION

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common malignancy and cause of death among NAFLD/NASH patients in Japan, with higher mortality observed among those with advanced disease and complications. Early identification and effective treatments are needed.

Changes in the distribution of etiologies of cirrhosis among patients referred for liver transplantation over 11 years in Iran

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Cirrhosis is a major public health problem worldwide. The prevalence of cirrhosis is various in different geographical regions. The aim of the present study was to determine the distribution of the etiologies of cirrhosis and their proportional changes through recent 11 years in Iran.

METHODS

In this retrospective, observational study, the data of cirrhotic patients who have been listed for liver transplantation in the Namazi Transplant Center (Shiraz, Iran) between January 2006 and December 2016 were analyzed. Demographic and clinical data of the patients including model for end-stage liver disease score, year of registration, and the etiologic diagnosis for each patient were retrieved.

RESULTS

The ratio of males to females was the highest (2.6:1) in patients with age over 50 years. Of 4891 patients, hepatitis B virus cirrhosis had the highest frequency (23.53%) and alcoholic cirrhosis had the lowest frequency (1.70%). The percentages of waiting list patients with hepatitis B virus (34.48%-17.48%) (P < 0.001), autoimmune hepatitis (12.64%-8.50%) (P = 0.037), and alcoholic cirrhosis (2.30%-1.10%) were decreased (P = 0.008) and the percentages of waiting list patients with cholestatic (12.64%-25.20%) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis cirrhosis (0.77%-8.82%) were increased over 11 years (both P < 0.001). Hepatitis B virus and autoimmune hepatitis cirrhosis were the most prevalent in male and female patients, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The results of the present study showed an increase in the frequency of cholestasis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis cirrhosis and therefore it should be considered in the health policy implementation.

Epidemiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in Japan: A focused literature review

Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) represent a growing unmet medical need and an increasingly prevalent cause of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and death in Japan. The aim of this review was to characterize the epidemiology of NAFLD and NASH in Japan. An English and Japanese literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and ICHUSHI Web, identifying 6553 studies, 67 of which were included. Prevalence of NAFLD in the Japanese population rose from the early 1990s (12.6–12.9%) to the early 2000s (24.6–34.7% of the population). Japanese NASH prevalence is estimated to be 1.9–2.7%. NAFLD and NASH are more common among males than females; however, females experience more severe disease than males. While obese patients had higher prevalence of NAFLD/NASH, nonobese individuals (body mass index [BMI] <25 kg/m²) consistently comprised 20% to >35% of NAFLD and NASH patients. The evidence shows that, despite obesity being linked with worse disease stages, “lean‐NASH” also plays an important role in NASH epidemiology. Besides obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome appeared to be reliably associated with disease severity. The prevalence of advanced fibrosis or cirrhotic disease was the highest in patients with NASH‐HCC (44–80% with stage F3/F4 disease), while 21–50% of patients with NASH had F3/F4 disease. NAFLD/NASH is common in the Japanese population, and the prevalence of these conditions has tripled in the last two decades. Furthermore, these NAFLD/NASH patients have a high comorbidity burden. Early and efficient identification of safe and effective treatments for NAFLD/NASH patients is urgently needed.

Transition in the etiology of liver cirrhosis in Japan: a nationwide survey

BACKGROUND

To assess the recent real-world changes in the etiologies of liver cirrhosis (LC) in Japan, we conducted a nationwide survey in the annual meeting of the Japan Society of Hepatology (JSH).

METHODS

We investigated the etiologies of LC patients accumulated from 68 participants in 79 institutions (N = 48,621). We next assessed changing trends in the etiologies of LC by analyzing cases in which the year of diagnosis was available (N = 45,834). We further evaluated the transition in the real number of newly identified LC patients by assessing data from 36 hospitals with complete datasets for 2008-2016 (N = 18,358).

RESULTS

In the overall data, HCV infection (48.2%) was the leading cause of LC in Japan, and HBV infection (11.5%) was the third-most common cause. Regarding the transition in the etiologies of LC, the contribution of viral hepatitis-related LC dropped from 73.4 to 49.7%. Among the non-viral etiologies, alcoholic-related disease (ALD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-related LC showed a notable increase (from 13.7 to 24.9% and from 2.0 to 9.1%, respectively). Regarding the real numbers of newly diagnosed patients from 2008 to 2016, the numbers of patients with viral hepatitis-related LC decreased, while the numbers of patients with non-viral LC increased.

CONCLUSIONS

HCV has remained the main cause of LC in Japan; however, the contribution of viral hepatitis as an etiology of LC is suggested to have been decreasing. In addition, non-viral LC, such as ALD-related LC and NASH-related LC, is suggested to have increased as etiologies of LC in Japan.

Pharmacokinetics and Safety of a Single Oral Dose of Peficitinib (ASP015K) in Japanese Subjects With Normal and Impaired Hepatic Function

Peficitinib (ASP015K) is a novel Janus kinase inhibitor developed for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The impact of hepatic impairment on the peficitinib pharmacokinetic (PK) and safety profile was investigated in non‐RA subjects (n = 24) in an open‐label, parallel‐group, multicenter comparative study in Japan. Subjects received a single, clinically relevant, oral dose of a peficitinib 150 mg tablet under fasting conditions. Plasma PK parameters were measured for peficitinib and its metabolites H1 (sulfate and methylated metabolite), H2 (sulfate metabolite), and H4 (methylated metabolite) in subjects with normal hepatic function, mild hepatic impairment, or moderate hepatic impairment. The peficitinib area under the plasma‐concentration–time curve from time 0 to infinity (AUC_inf) and maximum observed concentration (C_max) were not markedly different in subjects with mild hepatic impairment versus normal hepatic function. In subjects with moderate hepatic impairment versus normal hepatic function, the geometric mean ratios for peficitinib AUC_inf and C_max, were 1.92 (90% CI: 1.39, 2.66) and 1.82 (90% CI: 1.24, 2.69), respectively. Five treatment‐emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were experienced by 3 subjects, 1 in each group. There were no deaths, no serious TEAEs, and no TEAEs leading to withdrawal. In summary, the PK profile was unaltered in subjects with mild hepatic impairment after a single clinically relevant dose of peficitinib, but exposure almost doubled in subjects with moderate hepatic impairment. Peficitinib dose reduction may be considered in RA patients with moderate hepatic impairment.