Impact of stress on alcoholic liver injury; a histopathological study

Certain behaviors can have an influence on the cause and progression of liver disorders. To clarify the relation between histopathological change of the liver and psychosocial stress, behavioral traits, and psychological state, patients with fatty liver (n = 14) were compared with patients with chronic hepatitis (n = 16). Both groups were alcohol-induced without other causes and consumed the same dose of alcohol. By morphometric methods, fat deposit ratio (FDR) and degree of liver damage (DLD) which reflects lobular fibrosis, inflammatory cell infiltration, and necrosis were evaluated. Life Change Unit scores from the Social Readjustment Rating Scale were significantly higher in chronic hepatitis than in fatty liver (p < 0.001). DLD was significantly correlated with Life Change Unit (r = 0.59, p < 0.01). It is suggested that psychosocial stress is one of the aggravating factors of fibrosis and inflammatory change of the liver which is previously damaged by alcohol in man just like the rat liver following stress.