Keratin 8 and 18 (K8/K18) cytoskeletal proteins protect hepatocytes from undergoing apoptosis and their mutations predispose to adverse outcomes in acute liver failure (ALF).
We analyzed the entire coding regions of KRT8 and KRT18 genes (15 total exons and their exon-intron boundaries) to determine the frequency of K8/K18 variants in 344 acute liver failure (ALF) patients (49% acetaminophen-related) and 2 control groups (African-American [n = 245] and previously analyzed white [n = 727] subjects).
We analyzed the entire coding regions of KRT8 and KRT18 genes (15 total exons and their exon-intron boundaries) to determine the frequency of K8/K18 variants in 344 acute liver failure (ALF) patients (49% acetaminophen-related) and 2 control groups (African-American [n = 245] and previously analyzed white [n = 727] subjects).