摘要
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) comprehends a wide range of conditions, encompassing from fatty liver or steatohepatitis with or without fibrosis, to cirrhosis and its complications. NAFLD has become the most common form of liver disease in childhood as its prevalence has more than doubled over the past 20 years, paralleling the increased prevalence of childhood obesity. It currently affects between 3% and 11% of the pediatric population reaching the rate of 46% among overweight and obese children and adolescents. The prevalence of hepatic steatosis varies among different ethnic groups. The ethnic group with the highest prevalence is the Hispanic one followed by the Caucasian and the African-American. This evidence suggests that there is a strong genetic background in the predisposition to fatty liver. In fact, since 2008 several common gene variants have been implicated in the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease. The most important is probably the patatin like phospholipase containing domain 3 gene (PNPLA3) discovered by the Hobbs’ group in 2008. This article reviews the current knowledge regarding the role of ethnicity and genetics in pathogenesis of pediatric fatty liver.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)comprehends a wide range of conditions,encompassing from fatty liver or steatohepatitis with or without fibrosis,to cirrhosis and its complications.NAFLD has become the most common form of liver disease in childhood as its prevalence has more than doubled over the past 20years,paralleling the increased prevalence of childhood obesity.It currently affects between 3%and11%of the pediatric population reaching the rate of46%among overweight and obese children and adolescents.The prevalence of hepatic steatosis varies among different ethnic groups.The ethnic group with the highest prevalence is the Hispanic one followed by the Caucasian and the African-American.This evidence suggests that there is a strong genetic background in the predisposition to fatty liver.In fact,since 2008several common gene variants have been implicated in the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease.The most important is probably the patatin like phospholipase containing domain 3 gene(PNPLA3)discovered by the Hobbs’group in 2008.This article reviews the current knowledge regarding the role of ethnicity and genetics in pathogenesis of pediatric fatty liver.
基金
Supported by The American Heart Association(13SDG14640038)
2012 Yale Center for Clinical Investigation cholar award to Santoro N
This publication was also made possible by CTSA Grant Number UL1 RR024139 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science,a component of the National Institutes of Health(NIH),and NIH roadmap for Medical Research,Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NIH
