Iron metabolism disorders in patients with hepatitis B-related liver diseases

AIM To investigate the relationship between levels of iron metabolism markers and hepatitis B virus(HBV)-related chronic liver diseases.METHODS This case-control study with 318 participants included 78 cases of chronic hepatitis B, 85 cases of HBV-related liver cirrhosis, 77 cases of HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma, and 78 healthy controls. Markers of iron metabolism were detected in participants. Hematological and biochemical parameters and HBV-DNA were assessed. Child-Pugh grade and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage were determined for each hepatocellular carcinoma patient. Perls' staining was performed on liver sections. The SPSS program was used for all statistical analyses, and statistical significance was considered if a P-value < 0.05.RESULTS Significantly higher serum ferritin and lower serum hepcidin levels were detected in all groups of HBV-infected patients compared with healthy controls. Serum iron, total iron binding capacity, and serum transferrin levels were significantly lower in patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, whereas the hepcidin level was higher than that in chronic hepatitis B patients. Correlation analysis indicated that serum hepcidin was negatively correlated with HBV-DNA load(P < 0.01). Serum ferritin and transferrin saturation levels increased proportionally to the extent of liver cirrhosis and poorer Child-Pugh scores(P < 0.05). The decreased serum iron and transferrin saturation levels were significantly correlated with a smaller hepatocellular carcinoma tumor burden according to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging. Liver histology showed a clearly increasing trend in iron deposition in the liver tissues with increased fibrosis, which became prominent at stages 3(severe liver fibrosis) and 4(cirrhosis). CONCLUSION Iron metabolism disorders occur in patients with HBVrelated liver diseases. The serum markers of iron metabolism disorders vary in different stages of HBV-related liver diseases.

Association between polymorphisms of the APOBEC3G gene and chronic hepatitis B viral infection and hepatitis B virusrelated hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM to determine the relationship between five A3 G gene single nucleotide polymorphisms and the incidence of hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection and hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). METHODS this association study was designed as a retrospective study, including 657 patients with chronic HBV infection(CHB) and 299 healthy controls. All subjects were ethnic Han Chinese. Chronic HBV-infected patients recruited between 2012 and 2015 at the First Hospital of Jilin University(Changchun) were further classified into HBV-related HCC patients(n = 287) and non-HCC patients(n = 370). Frequency matching by age and sex was performed for each group. Human genomic DNAwas extracted from whole blood. Gene polymorphisms were identified using a mass spectroscopic method.RESULTS there were no significant differences between the genotype and allele frequencies of the rs7291971, rs5757465 and rs5757463 A3 G gene polymorphisms, and risk of CHB and HBV-related HCC. the AG genotype and G allele for rs8177832 were significantly related to a decreased risk of CHB(OR = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.47-0.96; OR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.50-0.95, respectively) and HCC(OR = 0.53, 95%CI: 0.34-0.84; OR = 0.58, 95%CI: 0.39-0.87, respectively). A significant relationship was found between rs2011861 computed tomography, tt genotypes and increased risk of HCC(OR = 1.69, 95%CI: 1.02-2.80; OR = 1.82, 95%CI: 1.08-3.06, respectively). Haplotype analyses showed three protective and four risk haplotypes for HCC. Also, one protective haplotype was found against CHB.CONCLUSION this study indicates that the A3 G rs8177832 polymorphism is associated with a decreased risk of CHB infection and HCC, while the rs2011861 polymorphism is associated with an increased risk of HCC.