Study Status: Recruiting
Recruit Status: Recruiting
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: Genetics of Fatty Liver Disease in Childhood Obesity.
Brief Summary:
This is a study to investigate genetic predisposition to hepatic steatosis and the expression of gluconeogenic and lipogenic genes in livers of obese children and adolescents.
Hypothesis 1: Common variants recently associated with variation in plasma TG levels identified in Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) (such as GCKR, PNPLA3) can affect accumulation of fat and subsequent development of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). Gene variants act in additive or synergistic manner with progressive liver fat accumulation per additional risk allele.
Hypothesis 2: With increase in hepatic fat content NASH and fibrosis will increase. Furthermore, expression of lipogenic markers (SREBP1c) will increase.