Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40564961›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of molecular sciences2025

Multi-Cohort Exploration of Repetitive Element Transcription and DNA Methylation in Human Steatotic Liver Disease.

Neil A Youngson, Aikaterini Tourna, Timothy Chalmers, Kelly V Prates, Josepmaria Argemi, Ramon Bataller, Koroush S Haghighi, Lindsay E Wu, Shilpa Chokshi, Peter Starkel and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of molecular sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Extrachromosomal Circular DNA and Transposable Elements in Type 2 Diabetes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Neil A YoungsonSchool of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-0690-4580
Aikaterini TournaRoger Williams Institute of Liver Studies, School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, Foundation for Liver Research and King's College Hospital, London SE5 9NT, UK.
Timothy ChalmersSchool of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Kelly V PratesSchool of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-6031-8219
Josepmaria ArgemiLiver Unit, Clinica Universidad de Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-1696-7753
Ramon BatallerLiver Unit, Hospital Clinic, Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-1119-7799
Koroush S HaghighiPrince of Wales School of Medicine Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia.
Lindsay E WuSchool of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-1599-7574
Shilpa ChokshiRoger Williams Institute of Liver Studies, School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, Foundation for Liver Research and King's College Hospital, London SE5 9NT, UK.
Peter StarkelDepartment of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc, 1200 Brussels, Belgium.
Patrick S WesternCentre for Reproductive Health, Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Department of Molecular and Translational Science, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia.
Margaret J MorrisSchool of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2285-5117
Stephen M RiordanGastrointestinal and Liver Unit, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia.

Funding

Fond National de Recherche Scientifique Belgium J.0146.17 and T.0217.18
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Transposable elements (TEs) make up around half of the human genome. Their transcription is repressed in most somatic cells to maintain genome integrity and function. The repression is chiefly maintained by a combination of epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation and histone modifications. However, recent research suggests that liver steatosis is associated with extensive changes to the hepatocyte epigenome. Furthermore, studies in mice have reported diet- and drug-induced changes to TE transcript levels in liver. The confirmation of these effects in human liver has not previously been undertaken. Here, we examined TE transcription in liver tissue from three patient cohorts with histologically confirmed liver steatosis caused by alcohol consumption or metabolic dysfunction. The quantitation of the number of transcripts with TE-homology in RNA-Seq data from a cohort of 90 bariatric surgery patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) revealed a trend for the reduction in TEs of all classes due to increasing steatosis, but no effect of fibrosis. This pattern was also present in a separate cohort of MASLD and HCC patients, as RT-qPCR also showed a reduction in Alu element transcripts in advanced steatosis, but again, no effect of fibrosis. Contrastingly, in a cohort of alcohol-related liver disease patients, the reduction in LINE-1 transcripts was associated with either increased steatosis or increased fibrosis. Moreover, the examination of LINE-1 DNA methylation levels in the MASLD and HCC cohort indicated that DNA methylation was also negatively associated with LINE-1 transcription in MASLD. This study suggests that TE transcript levels in human liver are slightly reduced by steatosis, that DNA methylation is an influential epigenetic regulator of LINE-1 retrotransposon transcription in steatosis, and that Alu transcript levels in background liver could be a new biomarker for HCC in cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic MASLD.

Indexed as

DNA MethylationDNA Transposable ElementsFatty LiverTranscription, GeneticAdultCohort StudiesEpigenesis, GeneticFemaleHumansLiverLong Interspersed Nucleotide ElementsMaleMiddle AgedDNA Transposable Elementsalcohol-related liver disease (ARLD)colorectal liver metastases (CRLM)DNA methylationformalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) liver biopsyhepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)long interspersed nuclear element (LINE)metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH)metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)non-alcoholic fatty liver disease activity score (NAS)non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)steatosis grade (SG)transposable elements (TEs)

Identifiers

PMID40564961
PMCPMC12192986

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.