Browsing by Subject "familial clustering"

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a growing epidemic in the Western world. It covers a spectrum from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis. Only a small fraction of patients with NAFLD develop advanced liver disease. We wished to determine whether NAFLD is familial based on review of literature and set up a study to examine index patients and their first degree relatives. The participants underwent a detailed survey of family history and clinical examination. We used transient elastography (TE) as well as magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to non-invasively measure liver fibrosis. So far we have studied three families in which the index patient had liver cirrhosis due to NAFLD or the index had undergone a liver transplantation due to NAFLD cirrhosis. The review of the literature suggests NAFLD is familial and only 10-30% of its genetic causes have been identified. Our goal is to continue study NAFLD families and to identify new genes underlying NAFLD cirrhosis.