Annalisa Cespiati, Neil A. Youngson, Aikaterini Tourna and Luca Valenti* Pages 998 - 1009 ( 12 )
This narrative review will discuss the current evidence supporting the possible application of precision or personalized medicine to the management of nonalcoholic or “metabolic” fatty liver disease (NAFLD), based on recent progress in the understanding of the genetics and epigenetics of the disease. The prevalence of NAFLD, which can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, is constantly increasing worldwide. Accurate noninvasive predictors of liver disease progression, as well as of cardiovascular complications of NAFLD, are urgently needed. Evidence is now reporting that the genetic and epigenetic factors involved in NAFLD development can be used to develop risk scores for liver-related complications, which may show the possibility to implement programs for targeted screening and surveillance of complications. Moreover, genetic and epigenetic factors identifying specific sub-phenotypes of NAFLD can predict the individual response to pharmacological therapies. Finally, we describe opportunities for gene-targeted therapeutic approaches in NAFLD, where the genetic variants represent therapeutic targets for precision therapy approaches.
Biomarker, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, precision medicine, cirrhosis, hepatocellular.
Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, The Institute of Hepatology London, Foundation for Liver Research, London, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan