[Association between IL-19 gene polymorphisms and hepatitis B virus susceptibility in children].

Objective: To study the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of interleukin (IL)-19 and susceptibility to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in children.

Methods: A case-control study was performed, and 136 children with positive HBsAg（case group） and 297 healthy children with negative HBsAg（control group） were enrolled. PCR and DNA sequencing were used for genotyping.

Results: There were significant differences in the frequencies of genotypes of IL-19 rs1798 between the case and control groups. The case group also had a significantly higher proportion of children with CG genotype than the control group (p<0.05). There were significant differences in the frequencies of genotypes and alleles of IL-19 rs2243191 between the HBV infection and non-infection groups among children who born to HBV-positive mothers. The infection group had significantly higher proportions of children with TC and CC genotypes and C allele than the non-infection group (p<0.05).

Conclusions: The SNP of IL-19 rs1798 may be associated with susceptibility to hepatitis B in children, and the SNP of IL-19 rs2243191 may be associated with susceptibility to breakthrough HBV infection in children at a high risk of HBV infection.