Brief Article
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 28, 2012; 18(4): 388-392
Published online Jan 28, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i4.388
No association between IRF3 polymorphism and susceptibility to hepatitis B virus infection in Chinese patients
Fang Yan, Yu-Feng Gao, Feng Lv, Tian-Chen Zhang, Xu Li, Hua-Fa Yin
Fang Yan, Feng Lv, Xu Li, Hua-Fa Yin, Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, Anhui Province, China
Yu-Feng Gao, Department of Hepatopathy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, Anhui Province, China
Tian-Chen Zhang, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: Yan F and Gao YF contributed equally to this work; Zhang TC performed the data analysis; Yan F and Gao YF wrote the manuscript; Yan F, Gao YF and Lv F performed the majority of experiments; Gao YF and Yin HF designed the study; and Li X provided the financial support for this work.
Supported by Grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81072342; the National Pre-973 Program Projects, No. 2009CB526411
Correspondence to: Hua-Fa Yin, Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Road, Hefei 230032, Anhui Province, China. yhf163.good@163.com
Telephone: +86-551-2922912 Fax: +86-551-2922912
Received: April 25, 2011
Revised: July 28, 2011
Accepted: October 27, 2011
Published online: January 28, 2012
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the association between three tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) in interferon regulatory factors (IRF3) and the genetic susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

METHODS: We performed a case-control study of 985 Chinese cases of chronic HBV infection and 294 self-limiting HBV-infected individuals as controls. Three tagSNPs in IRF3 (rs10415576, rs2304204, rs2304206) were genotyped with the Multiplex SNaPshot technique. The genotype and allele frequencies were calculated and analyzed.

RESULTS: The three SNPs showed no significant genotype/allele associations with chronic HBV infection. Overall allele P values were: rs10415576, P = 0.0908, odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.1798 (0.9740-1.4291); rs2304204, P = 0.5959, OR (95% CI) = 1.0597 (0.8552-1.3133); rs2304206, P = 0.8372, OR (95% CI) = 1.0250 (0.8097-1.2976). Overall genotype P values were: rs10415576, P = 0.2106; rs2304204, P = 0.8458; rs2304206, P = 0.8315. There were no statistically significant differences between patients with chronic HBV infection and controls. Haplotypes generated by these three SNPs were also not significantly different between the two groups.

CONCLUSION: The three tagSNPs of IRF3 are not associated with HBV infection in the Han Chinese population.

Keywords: Chronic hepatitis B virus infection, Interferon regulatory factors tag single nucleotide polymorphisms, Genetic susceptibility, Haplotype