Non-coding keratin variants associate with fibrosis progression in hemochromatosis patients

Background and aims: Keratins 8 and 18 (K8/K18) are intermediate filament cytoskeletal proteins that protect the liver from various forms of injury. Accordingly, exonic K8/K18 variants associate with adverse outcome of acute liver failure and with liver fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection or primary biliary cirrhosis. The presence of K8/K18 variants in hemochromatosis patients was also reported, but no association with liver fibrosis development was seen. We tested the presence of keratin variants in patient with hemochromatosis. Methods: We analyzed the entire exonic regions of K…