Association of HLA-DQB1 gene polymorphisms with outcomes of HBV infection in Chinese Han population.

Background: Host genetic factors and environmental factors including hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype are widely studied for the different outcomes of HBV infection. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) plays an important role in the immunological reaction to HBV infection.

Aims: To explore whether the HLA-DQB1 allele polymorphisms are associated with the outcome of HBV infection in a Chinese Han population.

Patients: One hundred and thirty three HBV subjects with spontaneous recovery and 151 chronic hepatitis B patients were recruited into this case-control study in the Beijing area of China.

Methods: Sequence specific primer-polymerase chain reaction (SSP-PCR) was used to detect 13 alleles of HLA-DQB1 gene and 13 alleles of HLA-DRB1 gene. Multivariate logistic regression model was performed to detect the association of candidate factors with outcome of HBV infection by SAS 9.1.2 software package.

Results: The frequency of HLA-DQB1*0502 allele in the chronic hepatitis B group was significantly higher than that in the group with spontaneous recovery independent of HLA-DRB1 (odds ratio 95%CI 1.8-190). In this study there was no evidence to indicate that cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption was associated with the outcome of HBV infection.

Conclusion: HLA-DQB1*0502 is independently associated with the outcome of HBV infection and is one host genetic factor affecting HBV infection outcome. At the same time, we can not rule out the possibility that excluded genes and alleles may also affect outcome.