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Abstract Details
PNPLA3 Genotype, Arachidonic Acid Intake, and Unsaturated Fat Intake Influences Liver Fibrosis in Hispanic Youth with Obesity
Nutrients. 2021 May 12;13(5):1621. doi: 10.3390/nu13051621.
Roshonda B Jones1, Lide Arenaza2, Claudia Rios1, Jasmine F Plows1, Paige K Berger1, Tanya L Alderete3, Jennifer L Fogel1, Krishna Nayak4, Passant Mohamed5, Darryl Hwang5, Suzanne Palmer5, Frank Sinatra1, Hooman Allayee6, Rohit Kohli1, Michael I Goran1
Author information
1Department of Pediatrics, The Saban Research Institute, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA.
2Institute for Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain (IS-FOOD), Public University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Spain.
3Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
4Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.
5Department of Radiology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
6Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Abstract
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease impacts 15.2% of Hispanic adolescents and can progress to a build-up of scared tissue called liver fibrosis. If diagnosed early, liver fibrosis may be reversible, so it is necessary to understand risk factors. The aims of this study in 59 Hispanic adolescents with obesity were to: (1) identify potential biological predictors of liver fibrosis and dietary components that influence liver fibrosis, and (2) determine if the association between dietary components and liver fibrosis differs by PNPLA3 genotype, which is highly prevalent in Hispanic adolescents and associated with elevated liver fat. We examined liver fat and fibrosis, genotyped for PNPLA3 gene, and assessed diet via 24-h diet recalls. The prevalence of increased fibrosis was 20.9% greater in males, whereas participants with the GG genotype showed 23.7% greater prevalence. Arachidonic acid was associated with liver fibrosis after accounting for sex, genotype, and liver fat (β = 0.072, p= 0.033). Intakes of several dietary types of unsaturated fat have different associations with liver fibrosis by PNPLA3 genotype after accounting for sex, caloric intake, and liver fat. These included monounsaturated fat (βCC/CG = -0.0007, βGG = 0.03, p-value = 0.004), polyunsaturated fat (βCC/CG= -0.01, βGG = 0.02, p-value = 0.01), and omega-6 (βCC/CG = -0.0102, βGG = 0.028, p-value = 0.01). Results from this study suggest that reduction of arachidonic acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid intake might be important for the prevention of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progression, especially among those with PNPLA3 risk alleles.