PNPLA3 and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: towards personalized medicine for fatty liver

摘要

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects approximately 25% of the global population and the future clinical and economic consequences are enormous. The rising disease burden from NAFLD reflects increased rates of obesity and its metabolic consequences, but genetic factors clearly determine how individuals respond to excess caloric intake and the resulting metabolic derangements. The review by Barbara and colleagues ( ) focuses on key genetic variants of NAFLD from an ever-growing list ( ). Of all the genetic variants, patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PNPLA-3) has emerged as a major common determinant of NAFLD and may be envisioned as part of a future personalized management strategy.