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Age, sex, red meat intake determine elevated liver iron counts

Patients with significantly elevated liver iron were more likely men and older and more likely to consume red meat, according to a recently published study.

While iron overload is traditionally associated with genetic disorders such as hereditary hemochromatosis, it is now often associated with metabolic diseases including diabetes type 3 and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

“Irrespective of its causes, identifying individuals storing excess liver iron and assessing its prevalence within the population is paramount since elevated liver iron is associated with the development of fibrosis and cirrhosis, and thought to be involved in the progression from fibrosis to hepatocellular carcinoma,” Andy McKay, from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and colleagues wrote.

To determine factors correlated with elevated liver iron, McKay and colleagues performed a cross-sectional study of the UK Biobank cohort, including 8,865 individuals. They found that 4.82% of the population had liver iron higher than the accepted 1.8 mg/g threshold.

Results showed that age correlated with liver iron (P < 10^–16; r² = 0.013), increasing by 0.00512 mg/g per year. Men had 0.0586 mg/g more liver iron than women on average (P < 10^–16; r² = 0.008) and were significantly more likely to have elevated liver iron (6.38% vs. 3.4%; P < .0001).

Patients who consumed red meat had significantly more liver iron if their reported diet included red meat less than once a week (0.08 mg/g higher), once a week (0.108 mg/g higher) or more than once a week (0.122 mg/g higher) compared with patients who reported they “never” consumed red meat (P < 10^–16).

“We show that population studies measuring liver iron are not only feasible, but can now become part of the ever expanding ‘big data’ consortium,” McKay and colleagues concluded. “The numbers of individuals with abnormal levels for two key liver disease risk factors are significant, and potentially represent millions in the wider population. Therefore, both liver fat and iron are noteworthy within the liver field’s future research priorities and following public health response.” – by Talitha Bennett

Disclosure: McKay reports he is an employee and stockholder of Perspectum Diagnostics. Please see the full study for the other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.