Progression of Fatty Liver Disease Can Be Predicted Through Genetic Analysis

Centum General Hospital Director Han Sangyoung Announces Joint Research
Published in International Journals, Raising Expectations for Early Diagnosis and Treatment Development

Fatty liver disease is a condition in which fat accumulates in the liver.

In most cases, it does not cause major problems, but in some patients, it can progress to steatohepatitis, leading to inflammation and liver cell damage.

If this process continues, the risk of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer increases.

Therefore, it is important to accurately determine the stage of fatty liver disease, but conventional tests have limitations in clearly distinguishing these stages. In this context, the possibility has emerged of predicting the progression and worsening risk of fatty liver disease using genetic analysis.

Han Sangyoung, Director of the Liver Center at Centum General Hospital, reported as the principal investigator that, through joint research with teams from Seoul National University, National Cancer Center, Sookmyung Women's University, and Dong-A University, his team has identified genetic changes that occur during the progression of fatty liver disease.

This research was published in recent issues of prestigious international journals (Clinical and Molecular Hepatology and Hepatology) and is expected to serve as an important foundation for the early diagnosis and development of personalized treatment methods for fatty liver disease.

Director Han Sangyoung and his research team discovered six genes (CAPG, HYAL3, WIPI1, TREM2, SPP1, RNASE6) that can predict the likelihood of fatty liver disease worsening in advance.

According to the study, these genes showed increased activity as fatty liver disease progressed. The research team revealed that genetic testing can predict whether fatty liver will remain simple or worsen to steatohepatitis.

In other words, utilizing genetic testing opens the way to early identification of patients at high risk of disease progression and the establishment of personalized treatment plans.

The research team also discovered the 'IFI16 gene,' which plays a crucial role in the progression to severe stages of fatty liver disease. According to the results, the IFI16 gene tends to be altered and increasingly expressed as steatohepatitis becomes more severe.

In particular, it was confirmed that the IFI16 gene is connected to the 'PYCARD-CASP1' pathway and plays a key role in promoting the progression of fatty liver disease.

Therefore, targeting the IFI16 gene opens the possibility of developing new treatments that can suppress the progression to steatohepatitis.

Han Sangyoung, Director of Centum General Hospital, stated, "It is significant in that we have presented the possibility of more precisely tracking how fatty liver disease worsens at the genetic level," and added, "We plan to continue research for early diagnosis and the development of personalized treatments in the future."

Fatty liver disease is increasing not only in Korea but also worldwide, and it is especially known to be closely related to obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.