Polymorphism rs738409 in PNPLA3 is associated with inherited susceptibility to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship between the patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) gene and hereditary susceptibility to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by detecting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Peripheral blood DNA from 315 patients diagnosed with NAFLD (including the spectrum of simple steatosis (SS) and non-alcoholic steatosis (NASH)) and 336 control subjects was used to determine the PNPLA3 genotype by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing. The relationship of SNPs and NAFLD-related markers of liver function were assessed by correlation analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The SNP rs738409 was identified in more of the NAFLD patients (allele variant frequencies: NAFLD, 65.40%; NASH: 71.87%; SS, 56.47%) than in the controls (33.18%). Case-control analysis revealed that carriers of the 148GG genotype were at 3.81-fold (95% CI: 3.03 ~ 4.79) higher risk of developing NAFLD and at 1.97-fold (95% CI: 1.41 ~ 2.75) higher risk of progressing from SS to NASH, compared with non-carriers. rs738409 was also found to be associated with serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and y-glutamyltransferase (y-GT) (both P less than 0.05). Carriers of the 148GG genotype had significantly higher body mass index, ALT, and fasting insulin than carriers of the 148CC genotype (all P less than 0.05), and significantly higher level of serum HDL than carriers of either the 148CC genotype or the 148GC genotype (both P less than 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Polymorphisms in the PNPLA3 gene may play an important role in mediating susceptibility to developing NAFLD in the Chinese population. The rs738409 polymorphism, in particular, is related to development and progression of NAFLD and may play a role in the contribution of PNPLA3 to NAFLD pathogenesis.</p>

Study on the correlations between HBsAg and hepatitis C virus expression as well as fibrotic staging in hepatocellular carcinoma and pericarcinomatous tissues / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the correlation between hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) expression as well as fibrosis staging in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and pericarcinomatous tissues.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The patterns of HBsAg and HCV in 100 cases of HCC and their surrounding liver tissues were studied on paraffin-embeded sections with immunohistochemistry technique, and liver tissues were also staged.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>HBV, HCV virus infection were positively correlated with the fibrotic staging (r(s) = 0.32, P = 0.001). HBsAg and HCV were detected both in HCC and pericarcinomatous tissues. The positive rate of HBsAg in Pericarcinomatous Tissues (79%) was higher than that of in HCC tissues (23%). HCV expressions in HCC (15%) and pericarcinomatous tissues (23%) showed no significant differences.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The fibrotic degree in the tissues of liver cancer with previous virus infection was obviously higher than that without virus infection. Viral infection seemed to be one of the reasons causing liver cancer while perennial virusemia would aggravate pathological changes of the liver tissue.</p>

Correlation between HBsAg, HCV expression in cancerous and pericancer tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver fibrosis markers in serum / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the correlation between HBsAg and HCV in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) pericarcinomatous tissues and serum liver fibrosis markers.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The patterns of HBsAg and HCV in 100 cases of HCC and their surrounding liver tissues were studied with paraffin sections using immunohistochemistry techniques. Hyaluronic acid (HA), procollagen III peptide (PIIIP), collagen IV (CIV), and laminin (LN) were detected by radioimmunoassay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The levels of HA, PIIIP, CIV and LN in the HBV and HCV coinfection group were the highest among the four groups. The levels of HA, PIIIP, CIV and LN in the groups not infected by HBV and HCV were the lowest among the four groups. HBV and HCV expressions were positively correlated with HA, LN and CIV and their Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were 0.60, 0.45, 0.46, respectively (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Liver cancer development follows a sequential trend of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and liver cancer. In the tissues of liver cancer with virus infection background, the serum marker level of hepatic fibrosis is obviously higher than those without virus infection background. On the one hand, virus infection is one of the reasons causing liver cancer; and on the other hand, longstanding viremia will aggravate pathological changes of liver tissues. Therefore antivirus treatment of hepatitis is of significance for the prognosis of liver cancer.</p>