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World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2014; 20(23): 7347-7355
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7347
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7347
Pediatric fatty liver disease: Role of ethnicity and genetics
Pierluigi Marzuillo, Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice, Department of Women and Children and General and Specialized Surgery, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, 80138 Naples, Italy
Nicola Santoro, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
Author contributions: The authors conceived and wrote the manuscript.
Supported by The American Heart Association (13SDG14640038) and 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
Correspondence to: Nicola Santoro, MD, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, 330 Cedar Street, PO Box 208064, New Haven, CT 06520, United States. nicola.santoro@yale.edu
Telephone: +1-203-7376356 Fax: +1-203-7856421
Received: October 8, 2013
Revised: January 4, 2014
Accepted: January 20, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Processing time: 255 Days and 15.4 Hours
Revised: January 4, 2014
Accepted: January 20, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Processing time: 255 Days and 15.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: The prevalence of hepatic steatosis varies among different ethnic groups. Ethnicity with the greatest prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the Hispanic one followed by Caucasian and then African-Americans. NAFLD exhibits tight links with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Several gene variants have been so far identified by Genome Wide Association Studies or by a candidate gene approach as associated with fatty liver disease. The PNPLA3 rs738409 and the GCKR rs1260326 are the strongest variants associated with fatty liver in paediatrics.