Correlation between MTP -493G>T polymorphism and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease risk: a meta-analysis

Several studies have found that microsomal transfer protein (MTP) may be important in the development and progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the relationships between a common polymorphism (-493G>T, rs1800591 G>T) in the MTP gene and NAFLD risk. The PubMed, CISCOM, CINAHL, Web of Science, Google Scholar, EBSCO, Cochrane Library, and CBM databases were searched for relevant articles published before October 1, 2013 without any language restrictions. Meta-analysis was conducted using the STATA 12.0 software. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated. Eleven case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis. A total of 636 NAFLD patients and 918 healthy control subjects were examined in this meta-analysis. Our results indicate that the MTP -493G/T polymorphism increases the risk of NAFLD (G allele vs T allele: OR = 1.39, 95%CI = 1.17-1.65, P < 0.001; GG + GT vs TT: OR = 1.46, 95%CI = 1.02-2.09, P = 0.038, respectively). Subgroup analyses indicated that the MTP -493G/T polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of NAFLD in population-based, hospital-based, polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and large sample-size subgroups under the allele and dominant models (all P < 0.05). However, we found no association between non-PCR-RFLP polymorphism and small sample-size subgroups (all P > 0.05). Our findings indicate that the MTP -493G/ T polymorphism may contribute to the development of NAFLD. Thus, the MTP -493G/T polymorphism may be a biomarker for the early detection of NAFLD.