Fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: correlation with simple blood indices and association with tumor necrosis factor-alpha polymorphisms.
OBJECTIVE
The study was conducted with an aim to evaluate the clinico-pathological profile, the correlation of AST: ALT ratio and APRI with histological fibrosis, and the frequency of two specific polymorphisms (-238, -308) in the TNF alpha promoter region in patients with NAFLD.


METHODS
The present study compared aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase (AST/ALT) ratio and AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) with fibrosis score in 29 patients who underwent liver biopsy for NAFLD. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) promoter region at positions -308 and -238 were examined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.


RESULTS
AST/ALT ratio correlated better than the APRI with liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD (AUROC of 0.9 compared to 0.68). TNF-alpha promoter region SNPs were present in only a minority of patients, and did not correlate with fibrosis severity.


CONCLUSIONS
AST/ALT ratio correlated well with liver fibrosis in Indian patients with NAFLD. The SNPs studied had no role in development of fibrosis in Indian patients with NAFLD.
Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632004, India.
Sudipta Dhar
SD
Chowdhury
Banumathi
B
Ramakrishna
Chundamannil Eapen
CE
Eapen
Ashish
A
Goel
Uday George
UG
Zachariah
Anuradha
A
Chandramohan
Srinivasan
S
Pugazendhi
Balakrishnan Siddartha
BS
Ramakrishna
George
G
Kurian
D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D001706:Biopsy; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D004247:DNA; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase