Cannabis consumption and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. A three years longitudinal study in first episode non-affective psychosis patients.

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry“Increased incidence of obesity and excess weight lead to an increased incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Recent evidence indicates a protective effect of cannabis consumption on weight gain and related metabolic alterations in psychosis patients. Overall, patients are at greater risk of presenting fatty diseases, such as NAFLD, partly due to lipid and glycemic metabolic disturbances. However, there are no previous studies on the likely effect of cannabis on liver steatosis. We aimed to explore if cannabis consumption had an effect on hepatic steatosis, in a sample of first-episode (FEP) non-affective psychosis.

RESULTS:

At 3-year follow-up, cannabis users presented significantly lower FLI scores than non-users (F = 13.874; p < .001). Moreover, cannabis users less frequently met the criteria for liver steatosis than non-users (X2 = 7.97, p = .019). Longitudinally, patients maintaining cannabis consumption after 3 years presented the smallest increment in FLI over time, which was significantly smaller than the increment in FLI presented by discontinuers (p = .022) and never-users (p = .016). No differences were seen in fibrosis scores associated with cannabis.

CONCLUSIONS:

Cannabis consumption may produce a protective effect against liver steatosis in psychosis, probably through the modulation of antipsychotic-induced weight gain.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31228640

“Cannabis consumption is associated with a lower risk of liver steatosis in psychosis. Cannabis use is not associated with liver fibrosis.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584619301393?via%3Dihub

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