Pediatric Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: the Rise of a Lethal Disease Among Mexican American Hispanic Children.

Hispanic children of Mexican origin have a high incidence of NAFLD. Susceptibility has been linked to a combination of factors including an increasing epidemic of obesity in children and adolescents, an allele substitution in the PNPLA3 gene that reduces hepatic lipid catabolism, and an altered microbiome that may increase hepatic endotoxins. The combination of NAFLD and portal vein toxins secondary to an indigenous gut microbiome appear to lead to the early occurrence of NASH, which progresses to cirrhosis and early hepatocellular carcinoma.