A Pilot Study Assessing the Possible Combined Effect of Physical Activity and PNPLA3 rs738409 Polymorphism on the Risk for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in the Japanese Elderly General Population.

PURPOSE: The patatin-like phospholipase domain containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) rs738409 polymorphism (c.444C>G) is the most well-known genetic risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but whether or not physical activity influences the association between the PNPLA3 genotype and risk of NAFLD is unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective longitudinal analysis was conducted among 352 Japanese subjects. Each type of physical activity was assigned a metabolic equivalent (MET), and the subjects were classified into sedentary, low or high groups using the "METS*T" (METs × hours per week) value of 5 or 21 as a threshold. RESULTS: Among the PNPLA3 G/G genotype carriers, the high and low METS*T groups had a lower risk of NAFLD than the sedentary METS*T group (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 0.14 [0.02-0.99] and 0.16 [0.03-1.04], respectively). Furthermore, the PNPLA3 C/C or C/G genotype carriers showed no significant difference in the risk of NAFLD among the three METS*T groups. CONCLUSION: The PNPLA3 rs738409 genotype may be associated with the beneficial effects of physical activity on the risk of NAFLD among elderly Japanese individuals. Further comprehensive investigations are therefore needed to verify the preliminary results.

Modeling of the Weight Status and Risk of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Elderly Individuals: The Potential Impact of the Disulfide Bond-Forming Oxidoreductase A-Like Protein (DsbA-L) Polymorphism on the Weight Status.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is closely associated with obesity. Disulfide bond-forming oxidoreductase A-like protein (DsbA-L) is known to be a key molecule in protection against obesity and obesity-induced inflammation. In the present study, we used a modeling and simulation approach in an attempt to develop body mass index (BMI) and BMI-based NAFLD prediction models incorporating the DsbA-L polymorphism to predict the BMI and NAFLD in 341 elderly subjects. A nonlinear mixed-effect model best represented the sigmoidal relationship between the BMI and the logit function of the probability of NAFLD prevalence. The final models for BMI and NAFLD showed that DsbA-L rs1917760 polymorphism, age, and gender were associated with the BMI, whereas gender, patatin-like phospholipase 3 rs738409 polymorphism, HbA1c, and high-density and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were associated with the risk of NAFLD. This information may aid in the genetic-based prevention of obesity and NAFLD in the general elderly population.