Polymorphisms and Haplotypes Predict Susceptibility to Hepatocellular Carcinoma Occurrence in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Infection from Northeast India.

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection leads to variable outcomes, ranging from prolonged slow hepatic damage leading to cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Polymorphism in cytokines IL-10 and IL-12 that impact the immune response to HCV infection may play a role in determining this outcome. This study was aimed to determine if polymorphisms in and contribute to HCV susceptibility and the risk of developing HCC in patients from Northeast India.  - 1082, -819, -592 polymorphisms and -1188 polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in a total of 266 HCV-infected patients and 100 age- and sex-matched controls. In the HCV-infected subjects, 110 patients had chronic hepatitis C (CHC), 96 with liver cirrhosis, and 60 with HCC. Serum levels of were also measured and correlated with disease severity. Haplotype analysis for polymorphisms was carried out. Statistical data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 22.0. The frequency of  - 592 AA genotype/A allele was significantly higher in HCC patients than in CHC patients. The intermediate IL-10-producing ACC haplotype was significantly more frequent in HCC and cirrhotic patients than in CHC patients. No significant association was found for  - 819, -592 and -1188 polymorphisms with the susceptibility to HCV infection or occurrence of HCC in HCV-infected patients.  - 592 CA polymorphism and ACC haplotype are significant biomarkers of HCC in HCV-infected patients from Northeast India. Higher serum levels of IL-10 were also linked to higher disease severity.