To investigate the biological basis for the stronger association of MBOAT7 locus variation with HCC in patients without severe fibrosis, we next examined the association of the rs641738 variant with possibly variants that may influence MBOAT7 mRNA stability, and with hepatic MBOAT7 mRNA expression levels in patients stratified by the severity of liver fibrosis. This evidence concerns the gene MBOAT7 and Hepatic fibrosis.