Association of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Coronary Artery Disease with FADS2 rs3834458 Gene Polymorphism in the Chinese Han Population

BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients are often prone to coronary artery disease (CAD), and CAD is found to be the main cause of death in NAFLD patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2) rs3834458 polymorphism and serum FADS2 level with NAFLD and CAD in Chinese Han population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The serum level of FADS2 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in healthy people, NAFLD patients, and NAFLD patients combined with CAD (NAFLD+CAD). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the genotypes of FADS2 rs3834458 in the three groups. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI), glucose (GLU), total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) of the NAFLD group and the NAFLD+CAD group were higher than those of the healthy control group (P < 0.05); the HDL-C of the NAFLD+CAD group was significantly lower than that of the healthy people and the NAFLD group (P < 0.05). The serum FADS2 concentration in the NAFLD+CAD group was significantly higher than that in the NAFLD group (P < 0.05) and the healthy people (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in genotype distribution (χ(2) = 5.347, P < 0.497) and allele frequency (χ(2) = 3.322, P = 0.345) between the three groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that the T allele was not an independent risk factor for CAD with NAFLD (OR = 1.62, 95% CI: 0.422-6.180). CONCLUSIONS: Serum FADS2 concentration was positively correlated with the susceptibility of NAFLD with CAD, while the polymorphism of rs3834458 was not associated with NAFLD with CAD.