Impact of a Loss-of-Function Variant in HSD17B13 on Hepatic Decompensation and Mortality in Cirrhotic Patients

A common splice variant in HSD17B13 (rs72613567:TA) was recently found to be associated with a reduced risk of developing chronic liver disease in NAFLD patients and a reduced risk of progression to advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prognosis of cirrhotic patie...

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Authors: Gil-Gómez, Antonio, Rojas, Ángela|||0000-0003-0853-4800, García-Lozano, María R., Muñoz-Hernández, Rocío, Gallego-Durán, Rocío, Maya-Miles, Douglas|||0000-0002-0669-6526, Montero-Vallejo, Rocío, Gato, Sheila, Gallego, Javier, Francés, Rubén, Soriano, German|||0000-0002-9267-6811, Ampuero, Javier|||0000-0002-8332-2122, Romero-Gómez, Manuel|||0000-0001-8494-8947
Format: article
Publication Date:2022
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:280895
Online Access:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/280895
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.3390/ijms231911840
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Cirrhosis
Polymorphism
PNPLA3
HSD17B13
NAFLD
Fibrosis
Ascites
Hepatic encephalopathy
SNP
Hepatic decompensation
Description
Summary:A common splice variant in HSD17B13 (rs72613567:TA) was recently found to be associated with a reduced risk of developing chronic liver disease in NAFLD patients and a reduced risk of progression to advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prognosis of cirrhotic patients harboring this variant. We performed a retrospective analysis on 483 prospectively recruited patients from four different hospitals in Spain, followed-up for at least 5 years. We collected clinical, demographic, and biochemical data, and we performed a genotyping analysis for common variants previously associated with liver disease risk (HSD17B13 rs72613567:TA and PNPLA3 rs738409). Patients homozygous for the TA allele showed a higher MELD score (p = 0.047), Child-Turcotte-Pugh score (p = 0.014), and INR levels (p = 0.046), as well as decreased albumin (p = 0.004) at baseline. After multivariate analysis, patients with the "protective" variant indeed had an increased risk of hepatic decompensation [aHR 2.37 (1.09-5.06); p = 0.029] and liver-related mortality [aHR 2.32 (1.20-4.46); p = 0.012]. Specifically, these patients had an increased risk of developing ascites (Log-R 11.6; p < 0.001), hepatic encephalopathy (Log-R 10.2; p < 0.01), and higher mortality (Log-R 14.1; p < 0.001) at 5 years of follow-up. Interactions with the etiology of the cirrhosis and with the variant rs738409 in PNPLA3 are also described. These findings suggest that the variant rs72613567:TA in HSD17B13 has no protective effect, but indeed increases the risk of decompensation and death in patients with advanced chronic liver disease.