title: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome and patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein3 gene variants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was traditionally interpreted as a condition which may progress to liver-related complications. However, the increased mortality is primarily a result of cardiovascular diseases. It has been suggested that fatty liver can be considered as the hepatic consequence of the metabolic syndrome. The aim was to describe the different clinical presentations of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease on the basis of the patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein3 (PNPLA3) rs738409 gene variant.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fatty liver was defined by ultrasonographic Hamaguchi's criteria in 211 consecutive subjects with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The rs738409 polymorphism was determined by TaqMan assays. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to ATPIII modified criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalence of PNPLA3-148II, PNPLA3-148IM, and PNPLA3-148MM genotypes was 45.0%, 40.7%, and 14.3% respectively. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome progressively increased with the severity of liver steatosis (from 52.5% to 65.2%, and 82.3% respectively, p<0.01). The PNPLA3-148MM group had significantly lower mean serum triglycerides (p<0.001), Framingham cardiovascular risk score (p<0.01) and lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome (p<0.05) and its components. Age and HOMA-IR were positive independent predictors of metabolic syndrome, while a negative independent association was found between metabolic syndrome and the homozygotes PNPLA3 I148M variant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We suggest a lower prevalence of MetS and reduced cardiovascular risk in NAFLD patients with PNPLA3MM genotype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Ben
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Polimeni
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brancorsini
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Costanzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: D'Erasmo
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baratta
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Loffredo
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pastori
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pignatelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Violi
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arca
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Disease, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.angelico@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Angelico
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008049:Lipase / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014463:Ultrasonography; D000217:Acyltransferases; D054512:Phospholipases A2, Calcium-Independent
chemical_list: D008049:Lipase; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C533682:PNPLA3 protein, human; D000217:Acyltransferases; D054512:Phospholipases A2, Calcium-Independent
keywords: Metabolic syndrome; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; PNPLA3