0000000000076731

AUTHOR

Rocco Spagnuolo

Two-year effectiveness and safety of golimumab in ulcerative colitis: An IG-IBD study

Abstract Background Few data exist regarding the long‐term effectiveness of golimumab in ulcerative colitis. No data have been reported on real‐world continuous clinical response. Objective This study aimed to describe the long‐term outcomes in a large cohort of patients on golimumab who had ulcerative colitis. Methods Consecutive patients with active ulcerative colitis, started on golimumab, were enrolled and prospectively followed up. The primary end point was to evaluate the long‐term persistence on golimumab therapy. Results A total of 173 patients with ulcerative colitis were studied. Of these, 79.2% were steroid dependent, and 46.3% were naïve to anti‐tumour necrosis factor alpha agen…

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PCSK9 rs11591147 R46L loss-of-function variant protects against liver damage in individuals with NAFLD

Background and Aims: The proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) plays a key role in cholesterol homeostasis, and its inhibition represents an effective therapy to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. In this study, we examined the impact of the PCSK9 rs11591147 loss-of-function (LOF) variant on liver damage in a multicenter collection of patients at risk of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), in clinical samples and experimental models. Methods: We considered 1874 consecutive individuals at risk of NASH as determined by histology. The SNP rs11591147, encoding for the p.R46L variant of PCSK9, was genotyped by TaqMan assays. We also evaluated 1) PCSK9 mRNA…

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Exome-Wide Association Study on Alanine Aminotransferase Identifies Sequence Variants in the GPAM and APOE Associated With Fatty Liver Disease.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Fatty liver disease (FLD) is a growing epidemic that is expected to be the leading cause of end-stage liver disease within the next decade. Both environmental and genetic factors contribute to the susceptibility of FLD. Several genetic variants contributing to FLD have been identified in exome-wide association studies. However, there is still a missing hereditability indicating that other genetic variants are yet to be discovered. METHODS: To find genes involved in FLD, we first examined the association of missense and nonsense variants with alanine amino transferase at an exome-wide level in 425,671 participants from the UK Biobank. We then validated genetic variants wit…

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The MBOAT7-TMC4 Variant rs641738 Increases Risk of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Individuals of European Descent

Background & Aims Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a leading cause of liver damage and is characterized by steatosis. Genetic factors increase risk for progressive NAFLD. A genome-wide association study showed that the rs641738 C>T variant in the locus that contains the membrane bound O-acyltransferase domain-containing 7 gene (MBOAT7, also called LPIAT1) and transmembrane channel-like 4 gene (TMC4) increased the risk for cirrhosis in alcohol abusers. We investigated whether the MBOAT7-TMC4 is a susceptibility locus for the development and progression of NAFLD. Methods We genotyped rs641738 in DNA collected from 3854 participants from the Dallas Heart Study (a multi-ethnic…

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<i>PCSK9</i> rs11591147 R46L Loss-of-Function Variant Protects Against Liver Damage in Individuals with NAFLD

Background and Aims: The proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) plays a key role in cholesterol homeostasis, and its inhibition represents an effective therapy to lower LDL-C levels. In this study, we examined the impact of PCSK9 rs11591147 loss-of-function (LOF) variant on liver damage in a multicenter collection of patients at risk of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), in clinical samples and experimental models. Methods: We considered 1,874 consecutive individuals at risk of NASH as determined by histology. The SNP rs11591147, encoding for the p.R46L variant of PCSK9, was genotyped by TaqMan assays. We also evaluated 1) PCSK9 mRNA hepatic expression in human liver, and 2…

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