Lack of association between human leukocyte antigen polymorphisms rs9277535 and rs7453920 and chronic hepatitis B in a Brazilian population.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious public health problem worldwide. The progression of the disease depends on several host and viral factors and may result in fulminant hepatitis (very rare), acute hepatitis with spontaneous clearance, and chronic hepatitis B infection. Previous studies demonstrated that variations in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II (HLA-DPB1 and HLA-DQB2 genes) are related to the chronic HBV infection. This study aimed to investigate the association of two single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs), one in the HLA-DPB1 (rs9277535) and one in the HLA-DQB2 (rs7453920), with chronic hepatitis B infection in a southern Brazilian sample. This case-control study included 260 HBV patients attended in a Specialized Center for Health in Caxias do Sul (Brazil) between 2014 and 2016. The same number of controls (matching for age, gender, and ethnicity) was obtained in a University Hospital in the same city and period. Blood samples were collected and genomic DNA was extracted. Genotyping were performed by real-time Taqman PCR method. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals and significance level of 5% (P < 0.05) were calculated. Allele frequencies in the SNP rs9277535 were 72.6% for A and 27.4% for G nucleotides in cases and 75.0% for A and 25.0% for G in controls. Allele frequencies in the SNP rs7453920 were of 25.7% for A and 74.3% for G in cases and 28.8% for A and 71.2% for G in controls. No statistically significant association was found between both SNPs and chronic hepatitis B (P > 0.05).