Department of Infection and Immunity, Research Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Medical Genomics Research Department, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sci Rep. 2019 May 9;9(1):7123. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42808-4.
Interleukin-37 (IL-37) has recently been recognized as a strong anti-inflammatory cytokine having anti-tumor activity against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients. HCC is a typical inflammation-related cancer, and genetic variations within the IL-37 gene may be associated with the risk of HBV infection. Identification of the allelic patterns that genetically have a high disease risk is essential for the development of preventive diagnostics for HBV-mediated liver disease pathogenesis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the IL-37 gene and disease sequelae associated with HBV infection. We genotyped ten IL-37 SNPs in 1274 patients infected with HBV and 599 healthy controls from a Saudi Arabian population. Among the selected SNPs, two SNPs (rs2723175 and rs2708973) were strongly associated with HBV infection, and six SNPs (rs2723176, rs2723175, rs2723186, rs364030, rs28947200, rs4392270) were associated with HBV clearance, comparing healthy controls and HBV infected-patients respectively. A suggestive association of rs4849133 was identified with active HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier and HBV-related liver disease progression. In conclusion, our findings suggest that variations at the IL-37 gene may be useful as genetic predictive risk factors for HBV infection and HBV-mediated liver disease progression in the Saudi Arabian population.
白细胞介素-37 (IL-37) 最近被认为是一种强大的抗炎细胞因子，对乙型肝炎病毒 (HBV) 感染患者的肝细胞癌 (HCC) 具有抗肿瘤活性。HCC 是一种典型的炎症相关癌症，IL-37 基因内的遗传变异可能与 HBV 感染的风险相关。确定在遗传上具有高疾病风险的等位基因模式对于开发针对 HBV 介导的肝病发病机制的预防性诊断至关重要。在这项研究中，我们旨在研究 IL-37 基因内的单核苷酸多态性 (SNP) 与 HBV 感染相关疾病后果之间的关联。我们对来自沙特阿拉伯人群的 1274 名 HBV 感染患者和 599 名健康对照者进行了 10 个 IL-37 SNP 的基因分型。在所选择的 SNP 中，两个 SNP (rs2723175 和 rs2708973) 与 HBV 感染强烈相关，六个 SNP (rs2723176、rs2723175、rs2723186、rs364030、rs28947200、rs4392270) 分别与 HBV 清除相关，比较健康对照者和 HBV 感染者。rs4849133 与活跃的 HBV 表面抗原 (HBsAg) 携带者和 HBV 相关的肝病进展有提示性关联。总之，我们的研究结果表明，IL-37 基因的变异可能是有用的遗传预测风险因素，可用于预测 HBV 感染和 HBV 介导的肝病进展在沙特阿拉伯人群中的作用。
