Elastography-based analysis of variants identified by a genome-wide association study as genetic determinants of liver enzyme activities

Background: Recent genome-wide study (GWAS) in over 61,000 individuals identified a set of loci that determine serum activities of liver enzymes [1]. Interestingly, only two variants, which are localized in the C6orf142 and TRIB1 gene loci, simultaneously increased the serum activities of ALT, AST and GGT [1]. Here we investigate these C6orf142 and TRIB1 variants as potential risk factors for increased liver stiffness in patients with chronic liver diseases (CLD). Patients and methods: In total 899 individuals with CLD (age 20–86 years, 548 males) were recruited. Liver fibrosis was phenotyped non-invasively by t…