Gene variant increases fatty liver risk and fibrosis progression
Tuesday, June 28, 2011 - 09:50
in Health & Medicine
New research confirms that a variant on the patatin-like phospholipase-3 (PNPLA3) gene increases risk of steatosis and fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). The PNPLA3 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs 738409 may represent an important genetic predictor and potential therapeutic target in chronic HCV liver damage. Study details are published in the July issue of Hepatology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.