©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Jun 18, 2015; 7(11): 1439-1443
Published online Jun 18, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i11.1439
Published online Jun 18, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i11.1439
Understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms in the pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: The role of genetics
Pierluigi Marzuillo, Anna Grandone, Laura Perrone, Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice, Department of Women and Children and General and Specialized Surgery, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, 80138 Naples, Italy
Author contributions: Marzuillo P wrote the manuscript; Grandone A and Perrone L supervised the manuscript drafting; Miraglia del Giudice E conceived the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest: Nothing to declare.
Correspondence to: Pierluigi Marzuillo, MD, Department of Women and Children and General and Specialized Surgery, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Via L. De Crecchio 2, 80138 Naples, Italy. pierluigi.marzuillo@gmail.com
Telephone: +39-333-4848764 Fax: +39-081-5665427
Received: January 15, 2015
Peer-review started: January 16, 2015
First decision: March 6, 2015
Revised: March 20, 2015
Accepted: April 16, 2015
Article in press: April 20, 2015
Published online: June 18, 2015
Processing time: 152 Days and 10.7 Hours
Peer-review started: January 16, 2015
First decision: March 6, 2015
Revised: March 20, 2015
Accepted: April 16, 2015
Article in press: April 20, 2015
Published online: June 18, 2015
Processing time: 152 Days and 10.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: At the present time, the two hits hypothesis needs to be updated because of the discovery of new genetic polymorphisms involved both in the liver fat accumulation and progression to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis that make more intriguing understanding the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) pathophysiological mechanisms. In this editorial, that is not to consider as a comprehensive review, we want to underline the role of three polymorphisms, one older (PNPLA3 I148M) but very important and two recently discovered (GPR120 R270H and TM6SF2 E167K) that add new pieces to the comprehension of the NAFLD pathophysiological puzzle.