Geographical Disparity in Primary Biliary Cholangitis Prevalence: A Mini Review

Abstract

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) has been shown to occur more often in the West than in the East. The reason for this geographical disparity remains to be determined. Some researchers have considered that this was merely due to the lack of awareness on PBC in the East. Thus, the reported case and epidemiological studies on this disease remains scarce in the East. Other studies have suggested genetic predisposition and environmental factors proven to play important roles in the disease pathogenesis. In addition, these might also cause the disease to be more susceptible in some populations. The findings reported by multiple genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in recent years have not yet identified the specific genes responsible for the development of PBC, with different susceptible genes identified on each study in different regions. The present review describes some factors that might be associated with this geographical disparity.