Associations of dietary sugars with liver stiffness in Latino adolescents with obesity differ on PNPLA3 and liver disease severity

Rachel B Schenker; Christopher J Machle; Kelsey A Schmidt; Hooman Allayee; Rohit Kohli; Michael I Goran

doi:10.1111/liv.15946

Associations of dietary sugars with liver stiffness in Latino adolescents with obesity differ on PNPLA3 and liver disease severity

Liver Int. 2024 Apr 18. doi: 10.1111/liv.15946. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Rachel B Schenker¹, Christopher J Machle^{2

3}, Kelsey A Schmidt², Hooman Allayee⁴, Rohit Kohli¹, Michael I Goran²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Department of Pediatrics, Saban Research Institute, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.
⁴ Departments of Population & Public Health Sciences and Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.

PMID: 38634702
DOI: 10.1111/liv.15946

Abstract

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most common paediatric liver disease. Latinos have high MASLD risk due to 50% prevalence of GG genotype of PNPLA3. Our primary aim was to evaluate associations between dietary carbohydrates/sugars and liver stiffness in Latino adolescents with obesity. Our secondary aim was to examine effect modification by (a) PNPLA3 genotype or (b) liver disease severity. Data were obtained from 114 Latino adolescents with obesity involved in two prior studies. No associations were seen between dietary carbohydrates/sugars and liver stiffness in the group as a whole. In subjects with GG genotype of PNPLA3, total sugar, fructose, sucrose, and glucose were associated with liver stiffness. Positive relationships between carbohydrate, total sugar, and sucrose and liver stiffness were stronger in those with MASLD and fibrosis compared to those with healthy livers and MASLD without fibrosis.

Keywords: MASLD; NAFLD; metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease; non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Abstract

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