Objectives: De novo steatosis after liver transplant is common and can occur in up to one-third of patients who are transplanted for liver disease other than for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Genetic factors may influence posttransplant steatosis; in a posttransplant setting, donor or recipient genetic factors could also play roles. Genetic polymorphisms in the adiponectin gene have been associated with metabolic syndrome in the pretransplant setting. We aimed to assess the association between donor and recipient adiponectin polymorphisms and early posttransplant hepatic steatosis identified on liver biopsies.
Materials and methods: Clinical data were collected for 302 liver transplant patients who underwent protocol biopsies for hepatitis C. Of these, 111 patients had available biopsies and donor/recipient DNA. Patients with grade 1 steatosis or greater (35% of patients) were compared with patients without posttransplant steatosis with respect to clinical features and donor/recipient adiponectin polymorphism genotypes.
Results: Patients who developed posttransplant steatosis and those without steatosis were similar with respect to individual components of metabolic syndrome. The adiponectin polymorphisms rs1501299 G/G and rs17300539 G/G genotypes in recipients were associated with early posttransplant graft steatosis. We found no associations between graft steatosis and donor adiponectin polymorphisms.
Conclusions: Genetic polymorphisms in the adiponectin gene of recipients (but not donors) are associated with early de novo posttransplant hepatic steatosis, independent of components of metabolic syndrome.