About the Authors

Giovanni Musso

giovanni_musso@yahoo.it

Affiliation Gradenigo Hospital, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

Roberto Gambino

Affiliation Dept. of Medical Sciences, San Giovanni Battista Hospital, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

James H. Tabibian

Affiliation Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America

Mattias Ekstedt

Affiliation Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

Stergios Kechagias

Affiliation Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

Masahide Hamaguchi

Affiliation Department of Experimental Immunology, World Premier International Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

Rolf Hultcrantz

Affiliation Departments of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Hannes Hagström

Affiliation Departments of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Seung Kew Yoon

Affiliation Division of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kangnam St. Mary Hospital, Catholic University Medical College, Seoul, Korea

Phunchai Charatcharoenwitthaya

Affiliation Division of Gastroenterology, Medicine Department, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkoknoi, Bangkok, Thailand

Jacob George

Affiliation Storr Liver Unit, Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney and Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia

Francisco Barrera

Affiliation Storr Liver Unit, Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney and Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia

Svanhildur Hafliðadóttir

Affiliation Dept of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Landspitali University Hospital, Hringbrau, Reykjavik, Iceland

Einar Stefan Björnsson

Affiliation Dept of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Landspitali University Hospital, Hringbrau, Reykjavik, Iceland

Matthew J. Armstrong

Affiliation Centre for Liver Research and NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Liver Disease, Institute of Biomedical Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Laurence J. Hopkins

Affiliation Centre for Liver Research and NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Liver Disease, Institute of Biomedical Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Xin Gao

Affiliation Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Sven Francque

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Antwerp University Hospital, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

An Verrijken

Affiliation Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Antwerp University Hospital, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

Yusuf Yilmaz

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, Marmara University, School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

Keith D. Lindor

Affiliation Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America

Michael Charlton

Affiliation Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America

Robin Haring

Affiliation Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Markus M. Lerch

Affiliation Department of Medicine A, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Rainer Rettig

Affiliation Institute of Physiology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Medicine Greifswald, Karlsburg, Germany

Henry Völzke

Affiliation Institute for Community Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Seungho Ryu

Affiliation Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Guolin Li

Affiliation College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China

Linda L. Wong

Affiliation John A. Burns School of Medicine at University of Hawaii, Transplant Institute, Hawaii Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America

Mariana Machado

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital of Santa Maria, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Lisbon, Portugal

Helena Cortez-Pinto

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital of Santa Maria, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Lisbon, Portugal

Kohichiroh Yasui

Affiliation Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan

Maurizio Cassader

Affiliation Dept. of Medical Sciences, San Giovanni Battista Hospital, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: GM. Performed the experiments: GM RG JHT ME SK MH RH HH SKY PC JG FB SH ESB MA LH XG SF AV YY KDL MC RH HV MML RR MC. Analyzed the data: GM RG JHT ME SK MH RH HH SKY PC JG FB SH ESB MA LH XG SF AV YY KDL MC RH HV SR GL LLW MM HCP KY MML RR MC. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: GM RG JHT ME SK MH RH HH SKY PC JG FB SH ESB MA LH XG SF AV YY KDL MC RH HV SR GL LLW MM HCP KY MML RR MC. Wrote the first draft of the manuscript: GM. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: GM. ICMJE criteria for authorship read and met: GM RG JHT ME SK MH RH HH SKY PC JG FB SH ESB MA LH XG SF AV YY KDL MC RH HV MML RR SR GL LLW MM HCP KY MC. Agree with manuscript results and conclusions: GM RG JHT ME SK MH RH HH SKY PC JG FB SH ESB MA LH XG SF AV YY KDL MC RH HV MML RR SR GL LLW MM HCP KY MC. Enrolled patients: GM RG JHT ME SK MH RH HH SKY PC JG FB SH ESB MA LH XG SF AV YY KDL MC RH HV MML RR SR GL LLW MM HCP KY MC.