Clinical, Laboratory, and Molecular Characteristics of GPD1 Gene Variants: A Cause of Hepatomegaly and Hepatic Steatosis in Early Childhood

Moodhi Alharbi; Ali Alasmari; Sultan Alkasim; Abdulrahman Al-Hussaini

doi:10.1155/grp/9986415

Clinical, Laboratory, and Molecular Characteristics of GPD1 Gene Variants: A Cause of Hepatomegaly and Hepatic Steatosis in Early Childhood

Gastroenterol Res Pract. 2026 Apr 9:2026:9986415. doi: 10.1155/grp/9986415. eCollection 2026.

Authors

Moodhi Alharbi¹, Ali Alasmari², Sultan Alkasim³, Abdulrahman Al-Hussaini^{4

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Affiliations

¹ Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Maternity and Children's Hospital, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia, moh.gov.sa.
² Division of Medical Genetics, The Children's Hospital, King Fahad Medical City, College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ksau-hs.edu.sa.
³ College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ksu.edu.sa.
⁴ Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Children's Specialized Hospital, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, kfmc.med.sa.
⁵ College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, alfaisal.edu.
⁶ King Saud University Celiac Disease Research Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ksu.edu.sa.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Mutations in the GPD1 gene, which encodes glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1 (GPD1), are a rare cause of monogenic hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) during childhood. This study is aimed at providing a detailed analysis of the clinical, laboratory, and molecular characteristics of all patients affected by biallelic GPD1 gene variants, including three cases from our center.

Methods: A literature search was conducted across the English MEDLINE, PubMed, and Embase databases from 1966 to 2023 for the studies that reported on GPD1 deficiency with confirmed GPD1 gene variants using the search words HTG and GPD1 gene.

Results: A total of 39 children (including three from our center) were identified with 15 pathogenic mutations in GPD1 reported in 14 articles from 5 ethnicities (15 Arabs, 14 Caucasians, 4 Chinese, 5 Indian/South Asian, and 1 Turkish): 8 missense variants (one compound heterozygous), 3 nonsense, 3 frameshifts, and 1 splicing. Three of the 15 variants likely originated from a common ancestor, "that is, founder in nature": p.I119fs∗94 (Palestinian Arabs), p.Gly299Arg (Czech population), and p.Thr251Asnfs∗10 (Saudi Arabia). The median age at presentation was 9 months. All patients manifested hepatomegaly, elevated transaminases, and HTG. Nineteen patients underwent liver biopsy; all showed micro- and macrosteatosis, mild to moderate portal fibrosis in 58% (11 out of 19), and cirrhosis in the remaining eight cases (42%). Follow-up data showed that HTG normalized in 28% of patients (11 out of 39) but persisted mildly in the remaining 72% (28 out of 39).

Conclusion: Mutations in the GPD1 gene should be considered in children with hepatomegaly, hepatic steatosis, and HTG. This study indicates that GPD1 deficiency may not be a transient or benign condition, as previously considered, due to the persistence of HTG and liver pathology in a significant proportion of cases. Identifying specific GPD1 variants may expedite targeted molecular analysis.

Keywords: GPD1 gene; Saudi Arabia; cirrhosis; hepatic steatosis; hypertriglyceridemia.