Topic: Liver disease/Cancer

The main objective of this study was to investigate the association between 288 SNPs identified in genome-wide association studies and risk of elevated transaminase levels in an admixed Mexican-Mestizo sample of 178 cases of NAFLD and 454 healthy controls. The results of this study suggest that among Mexicans, the PNPLA3 (rs738409), LYPLAL1 (rs12137855), PPP1R3B (rs4240624), and GCKR (rs780094) polymorphisms may be associated with a greater risk of chronic liver disease among overweight adults. Study findings also suggest a significant association between variants in COL13A1, ADIPOQ, SAMM50, and risk of NAFLD/elevated transaminase levels in Mexican adults with an admixed ancestry. This was the first study to examine high-density single nucleotide screening for genetic variations in a Mexican-Mestizo population.

Research Team:
Yvonne Flores, PhD, MPH
Roshan Bastani, PhD

Study Population: Individuals with NAFLD and healthy controls

Funding: NIH/NCI, Project # K07CA197179

Publications:

• Palacios-González B, León-Reyes G, Rivera-Paredez B, Ibarra-González I, Vela-Amieva M, Flores YN, Canizales-Quinteros S, Salmerón J, Velázquez-Cruz R. Targeted Metabolomics Revealed a Sex-Dependent Signature for Metabolic Syndrome in the Mexican Population. Nutrients. 2022;14(18):3678. PMCID: PMC9504093.
• Rivera-Paredez B, Quezada-Sánchez AD, Denova-Gutiérrez E, Torres-Ibarra L, Flores YN, Salmerón J, Velázquez-Cruz R. Diet Modulates the Effects of Genetic Variants on the Vitamin D Metabolic Pathway and Bone Mineral Density in Mexican Postmenopausal Women. The Journal of  Nutrition. 2021;151(7):1726-1735. Erratum in: The Journal of Nutrition. 2021;151(6):1675. PMCID: PMC8277435.
• Flores YN, Datta GD, Yang L, Corona E, Devineni D, Glenn BA, Bastani R, May FP. Disparities in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Incidence, Stage, and Survival: A Large Population-Based Study. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. 2021; 30(6):1193-1199. PMCID: PMC8172467.