Gene variation in IL10 and susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B.

Objectives: To evaluate the correlation between IL-10 gene polymorphisms and hepatitis B infection.

Methods: Tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used to investigate the relationship between IL-10 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection by comparing 996 chronic HBV infection cases to 301 acute infection controls.

Results: This study found that rs3024490 G/T allele, located in the intron 1 region and highly prevalent in Chinese populations, was significantly different between the chronic HBV infection cases and the acute infection controls in single allele analysis, genetic models analysis, and haplotypes analysis.

Conclusions: This suggested that the rs3024490 within IL-10 was associated with susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B in a Chinese Han population.