Racial Differences in Liver Fibrosis Burden.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Liver histology is the classic method for staging the severity of liver fibrosis, which in turn is an important predictor of clinical outcome. Here, we have hypothesized that the susceptibility to develop fibrosis varies among racial groups.

METHODS

We examined the histology of all patients over 18 years of age who underwent liver biopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina from 1/1/2013 to 7/1/2021. Patients with malignancy, liver metastases, or missing data were excluded. Fibrosis was quantified using the Batts-Ludwig system (F0 = no fibrosis to F4 = histological cirrhosis). Racial groups were propensity matched based on age, gender, diabetes, alcohol consumption, and CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index Themes to mitigate the risk of selection bias.

RESULTS

We identified 1101 patients with liver biopsy histological fibrosis scores. The cohort included 23% Black patients. After propensity matching, Black patients were significantly more likely to have Hepatitis C (73/228 (32%) vs 45/228 (20%), p < 0.001) and autoimmune hepatitis (34/228 (15%) vs 6/228 (3%), p < 0.001) than White patients, while White patients were significantly more likely to have metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (71/228 (31%) vs 18/228 (8%), p < 0.001). White patients were significantly more likely to have cirrhosis than Black patients (White - 89/228 (39%) vs Black - 68/228 (30%), p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

White patients had a greater overall burden of advanced fibrosis (F4/cirrhosis) than Black patients, independent of etiology. The data suggest that fibrosis risk and/or progression may be worse in White than Black patients.