Dad's early obesity tied to liver disease in kids

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
Having a father who becomes
obese at a relatively young age may increase a person's risk of
developing serious liver problems, a new study shows.

Individuals whose fathers were obese before age 45 were
more likely than those whose parents were not obese to have
high levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in their blood,
an enzyme that signals liver injury, Dr. Rohit Loomba of the
National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and
colleagues found.

High ALT levels in the general population can be associated
with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, an obesity-related
condition, Loomba and his team say. One severe, progressive
form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is nonalcoholic
steatohepatitis, which can lead to cirrhosis and even liver
cancer, they note in the medical journal Gastroenterology.

To investigate whether parental obesity might be related to
high ALT levels, as well as levels of another enzyme related to
liver damage, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), the researchers
looked at measurements of both enzymes in 1,732 men and women
participating in the Framingham Heart Study.

The researchers divided study participants into three
groups: people whose parents became obese unusually early
(before age 41 for women and before age 45 for men), those with
parents who became obese later on, and those with parents who
were never obese.

Having a father with early-onset obesity increased a
person's likelihood of having elevated ALT levels, regardless
of their own weight, the researchers found. But there was no
link between maternal obesity and ALT levels, and no
relationship at all between parental obesity and AST levels.

Developing a condition like obesity early can indicate
genetic susceptibility to that condition, the researchers note
in their report. The findings suggest that genes that promote
early-onset obesity could also influence ALT levels, they add.

"These results support the need for further studies to
establish whether individuals with early-onset parental obesity
and elevated serum ALT levels are at a higher risk for
developing progressive liver disease such as nonalcoholic
steatohepatitis," the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Gastroenterology, April 2008.