Genetic determinants of alcoholic liver disease

Stickel, Felix; Hampe, Jochen (2012). Genetic determinants of alcoholic liver disease. Gut, 61(1), pp. 150-9. London: BMJ Publishing Group 10.1136/gutjnl-2011-301239

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Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) accounts for the majority of chronic liver disease in Western countries. The spectrum of ALD includes steatosis with or without fibrosis in virtually all individuals with an alcohol consumption of >80 g/day, alcoholic steatohepatitis of variable severity in 10-35% and liver cirrhosis in approximately 15% of patients. Once cirrhosis is established, there is an annual risk for hepatocellular carcinoma of 1-2%. Environmental factors such as drinking patterns, coexisting liver disease, obesity, diet composition and comedication may modify the natural course of ALD. Twin studies have revealed a substantial contribution of genetic factors to the evolution of ALD, as demonstrated by a threefold higher disease concordance between monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins. With genotyping becoming widely available, a large number of genetic case-control studies evaluating candidate gene variants coding for proteins involved in the degradation of alcohol, mediating antioxidant defence, the evolution and counteraction of necroinflammation and formation and degradation of extracellular matrix have been published with largely unconfirmed, impeached or even disproved associations. Recently, whole genome analyses of large numbers of genetic variants in several chronic liver diseases including gallstone disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have identified novel yet unconsidered candidate genes. Regarding the latter, a sequence variation within the gene coding for patatin-like phospholipase encoding 3 (PNPLA3, rs738409) was found to modulate steatosis, necroinflammation and fibrosis in NAFLD. Subsequently, the same variant was repeatedly confirmed as the first robust genetic risk factor for progressive ALD.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Further Contribution)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gastro-intestinal, Liver and Lung Disorders (DMLL) > Clinic of Visceral Surgery and Medicine > Hepatology

UniBE Contributor:

Stickel, Felix

ISSN:

0017-5749

Publisher:

BMJ Publishing Group

Language:

English

Submitter:

Factscience Import

Date Deposited:

04 Oct 2013 14:38

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:11

Publisher DOI:

10.1136/gutjnl-2011-301239

PubMed ID:

22110053

Web of Science ID:

000298179200021

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/15219 (FactScience: 222511)

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