The common variant of rs6214 in insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF1) gene: a potential protective factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Purpose Regarding the central role of insulin resistance in NAFLD, we explored whether insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) gene variants were associated with NAFLD susceptibility. Methods IGF1(rs6214) andIGFBP3(rs3110697) gene variants were genotyped in 154 cases with biopsy-proven NAFLD and 156 controls using PCR-RFLP method. Results TheIGF1rs6214 AA + AG genotype compared with the GG genotype appeared to be a marker of decreased NAFLD susceptibility (p = .006; OR = 0.47, 95%CI = 0.28-0.80). Furthermore, theIGF1rs6214 A allele was underrepresented in the cases than controls (p = .024; OR = 0.61, 95%CI = 0.40-0.94). However, we observed no significant difference in genotype or allele frequencies between the cases and controls forIGFBP3gene. Conclusions To our knowledge, these findings suggest, for the first time, that theIGF1rs6214 A allele and AA + AG genotype have protective effects for NAFLD susceptibility. Nonetheless, further studies are needed to validate our findings.

Automated summary

This study found an association between IGF1 gene variants and susceptibility to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), with the IGF1rs6214 A allele and AA + AG genotype showing protective effects.