The proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase MER as a novel modulator of fibrogenesis in NAFLD

Role of the receptor tyrosine kinase MER in the development of fibrosis in NAFLD

s / Digestive and Liver Disease 47S (2015) e221–e225 e225 age of these patients was 61 years (SD 12); 53% were female. Compared to HCV patients without steatosis (3347), in patients with steatosis: BMI was ≥25 in 44% vs. 36% (p<0.05) and ≥30 in 18% vs 11% (p=0.05); F4/cirrhosis was present in 28% vs. 32% (p=ns). Among HCV patients with and without steatosis, similar distribution of HCV genotypes, transaminases and gamma GT levels, lipid pattern and other comorbidities were observed. Of 1295 patients with steatosis, in 167 (1.3%) liver biopsy was available and confirmed the NAFLD diagnosis. In this last group of patients the prevalence of diabetes and of cardiovascular disease were higher co…

MERTK rs4374383 polymorphism affects the severity of fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Background & Aim Homozygosity for a common non-coding rs4374383 G>A polymorphism in MERTK (myeloid-epithelial-reproductive tyrosine kinase) has been associated with the protection against fibrosis progression in chronic hepatitis C. The main study objective was to assess whether MERTK AA genotype influences liver fibrosis, and secondarily MERTK expression in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We also investigated whether MERTK is expressed in human hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and in murine models of fibrogenesis. Methods We considered 533 consecutive patients who underwent liver biopsy for suspected non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) without severe obesity from two …