Genetic variants of interferon regulatory factor 5 associated with chronic hepatitis B infection.

Aim: To investigate possible effects of polymorphisms in the 3' UTR region of the locus on susceptibility to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and progression of liver diseases among clinically classified Vietnamese patients.

Methods: Four SNPs (rs13242262A/T, rs77416878C/T, rs10488630A/G, and rs2280714T/C) were genotyped in clinically classified HBV patients [chronic hepatitis B (CHB). = 99; liver cirrhosis (LC), = 131; hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), = 149] and in 242 healthy controls by direct sequencing and TaqMan real-time PCR assays.

Results: Comparing patients and controls, no significant association was observed for the four variants. However, the alleles and contributed to an increased risk of liver cirrhosis (LC CHB: OR = 1.5, 95%CI: 1.1-2.3, adjusted = 0.04; LC CHB: OR = 1.7, 95%CI: 1.1-2.6, adjusted = 0.019). Haplotype constructed from 4 SNPs was observed frequently in LC compared to CHB patients (OR = 2.1, 95%CI: 1.2-3.3, adjusted = 0.008). Haplotype occurred rather among CHB patients than in the other HBV patient groups (LC CHB: OR = 0.4, 95%CI: 0.2-0.8, adjusted = 0.03; HCC CHB: OR = 0.3, 95%CI: 0.15-0.7, adjusted = 0.003). The haplotype was also associated with increased levels of ALT, AST and bilirubin.

Conclusion: Our study shows that variants may contribute as a host factor in determining the pathogenesis in chronic HBV infections.