Genetic variants of interferon regulatory factor 5 associated with chronic hepatitis B infection.

AIM

To investigate possible effects of polymorphisms in the 3' UTR region of the locus on susceptibility to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and progression of liver diseases among clinically classified Vietnamese patients.

METHODS

Four SNPs (rs13242262A/T, rs77416878C/T, rs10488630A/G, and rs2280714T/C) were genotyped in clinically classified HBV patients [chronic hepatitis B (CHB). = 99; liver cirrhosis (LC), = 131; hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), = 149] and in 242 healthy controls by direct sequencing and TaqMan real-time PCR assays.

RESULTS

Comparing patients and controls, no significant association was observed for the four variants. However, the alleles and contributed to an increased risk of liver cirrhosis (LC CHB: OR = 1.5, 95%CI: 1.1-2.3, adjusted = 0.04; LC CHB: OR = 1.7, 95%CI: 1.1-2.6, adjusted = 0.019). Haplotype constructed from 4 SNPs was observed frequently in LC compared to CHB patients (OR = 2.1, 95%CI: 1.2-3.3, adjusted = 0.008). Haplotype occurred rather among CHB patients than in the other HBV patient groups (LC CHB: OR = 0.4, 95%CI: 0.2-0.8, adjusted = 0.03; HCC CHB: OR = 0.3, 95%CI: 0.15-0.7, adjusted = 0.003). The haplotype was also associated with increased levels of ALT, AST and bilirubin.

CONCLUSION

Our study shows that variants may contribute as a host factor in determining the pathogenesis in chronic HBV infections.