Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C has been associated with the development of hepatic steatosis, which increases the risk of liver cancer. The microsomal triglyceride transporter protein (MTTP), is a lipid transport protein that mediates lipid metabolism and CD1d antigen presentation. The study aimed to explore the association between MTTP genotype (-493G/T) polymorphism and hepatic steatosis in hepatitis C. METHODS: The database "Pubmed, Cochrane library, CNKI, Web of science, Embase and CBM" were retrieved to identify the literature. The quality of the selected literature was evaluated using the "the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale" (NOS). Relevant data was extracted and analyzed using the Stata software. Heterogeneity was expressed by "Cochran's Q and I(2)", with I(2) ≥ 50% or P < 0.05 indicating high heterogeneity. A random-effects model and subgroup analysis were conducted to identify the sources of heterogeneity. We also used "Funnel plots", "Egger's tests" and "Begg's tests" to evaluate biases in the literature. RESULTS: The study found a significant and positive association between liver steatosis and the HCV genotype 3 with a dominant model of the MTTP genotype (-493G/T) (OR = 11.57, 95%CI: 4.467-29.962, P < 0.001). In contrast, no correlation was found between hepatic steatosis and either the recessive, homozygous or heterozygous models (OR = 1.142, P = 0.5; OR = 1.581, P = 0.081; OR = 1.029, P = 0.86). There was no significant publication biases, as measured by the Funnel plot, and the Egger's and Begg's tests. Finally, sensitivity analysis showed the obtained results are stable. CONCLUSIONS: Dominant mutations in the T allele of the MTTP genotype (-493G/T) increase susceptibility to hepatic steatosis in patients presenting with the HCV genotype 3.