Association between chronic hepatitis B virus infection and HLA-DP gene polymorphisms in the Turkish population.
AIM
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects approximately 360 million people worldwide. 10-15% of patients with chronic HBV develop liver cirrhosis (LC), liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Chronic HBV infection or HBV clearance is influenced by both viral and host factors. In genome-wide association studies (GWAS), the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene polymorphisms rs3077 and rs9277535 were identified to be associated with chronic hepatitis B. HLA genes have been linked to immune response to infectious agents. Genetic variants in HLA genes influence HLA mRNA expression which might also affect antigen presentation. We evaluated the association between HLA gene polymorphisms and the risk for persistent HBV infection.


METHODS
In the current study, HLA gene polymorphisms were investigated in a case-control study of 294 chronic HBV patients and 234 persons with HBV natural clearance by using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).


RESULTS
The results showed that rs9277535 allele frequency is associated with HBV infection in the Turkish subjects examined (P=0.048). However, no association was found for rs3077. Additionally, the AG haplotype block showed a protective effect against the risk of persistent HBV infection (for the rs3077A/rs9277535G, OR=0.52; 95% 0.34-0.80, P=0.003).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results, for the first time, demonstrate that HLA-DPB1 gene rs9277535A allele has a major effect on the risk of persistent HBV infection. We suggest that further independent studies are necessary to clarify the association of these polymorphisms with persistence or natural clearance of HBV infection in Caucasian populations.
['Akgöllü|Ersin|E|', 'Bilgin|Ramazan|R|', 'Akkız|Hikmet|H|', 'Ülger|Yakup|Y|', 'Kaya|Berrin Yalınbaş|BY|', 'Karaoğullarından|Ümit|Ü|', 'Arslan|Yusuf Kemal|YK|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D000483:Alleles D016022:Case-Control Studies D005260:Female D015870:Gene Expression D005787:Gene Frequency D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study D059868:HLA-DP beta-Chains D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens D006515:Hepatitis B virus D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D008957:Models, Genetic D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction D014421:Turkey
HBV clearance rs3077 rs9277535 HLA polymorphism