Relationship of human leukocyte antigen class II genes with the susceptibility to hepatitis B virus infection and the response to interferon in HBV-infected patients

AIM： To study the relationship of human leukocyte antigen （HLA）-DRB1 and -DQB1 alleles with the genetic susceptibility to HBV infection and the response to interferon （IFN） in HBV-infected patients. METHODS： Low-resolution DNA typing kit was used to determine HLA-DR-1 and -DQB1 genes in 72 patients with chronic hepatitis B （CHB） and HLA-DRB1 in 200 healthy people ready to donate their bone marrow in Shanghai. Among CHB patients, 35 were treated with IFNα-1b for 24 wk. RESULTS： The frequencies of HLA-DRBI＊06, DRBI＊08 and DRB1＊16 alleles in 72 patients were higher than in 200 healthy people （2.08% vs0%, OR = 3.837, P= 0.018; 11.11% vs5.50%, OR = 2.148, P= 0.034; and 6.94% vs 3.00%, OR = 0.625, P = 0.049, respectively）; whereas that of DRBI＊07 allele was lower （2.78% vs 7.75%, OR = 0.340, P= 0.046）. The frequency of HLA-DRBI＊ 14 allele was higher in 11 responders to IFN compared with 24 non-responders （18.18% vs2.08%, OR = 10.444, P = 0.031）, whereas that of DQBI＊07 allele was inverse （9.09% vs37.50%, OR = 0.167, P= 0.021）. CONCLUSION： The polymorphism of HLA class II may influence the susceptibility to HBV infection and the response to IFN in studied CHB patients. Compared with other HLA-DRB1 alleles, HLA-DRBI＊06, DRBI＊08, and DRB1＊16 may be associated with chronicity of HBV infection, HLA-DRBI＊07 with protection against HBV infection, and HLA-DRB1＊14 allele may be associated with a high rate of the response of CHB patients to IFN treatment. Compared with other HLA-DQB1 alleles, HLA-DQBI＊07 may be associated with low response rate to IFN. 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Correlating interleukin-10 promoter gene polymorphisms with human cerebral infarction onset

Evidence suggests that interleukin-10（IL-10） deficiency exacerbates inflammation and worsens the outcome of brain ischemia. In view of the critical role of the single nucleotide polymorphic sites-1082（A/G） and-819（C/T） in the promoter region of the IL-10 gene, we hypothesized that they are associated with cerebral infarction morbidity in the Chinese Han population. We genotyped these allelic gene polymorphisms by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction methods in 181 patients with cerebral infarction（cerebral infarction group） and 115 healthy subjects（control group）. We identified significant differences in genotype distribution and allele frequency of the IL-10-1082 A/G allele between cerebral infarction and control groups（χ2 = 6.643, P = 0.010）. The IL-10-1082 A allele frequency was significantly higher in the cerebral infarction group（92.3%） than in the control group（86.1%）（P = 0.015）. Moreover, cerebral infarction risk of the AA genotype was 2-fold higher than with the AG genotype（OR = 2.031, 95%CI： 1.134-3.637）. In addition, AA genotype together with hypertension was the independent risk factor of cerebral infarction（OR = 2.073, 95%CI： 1.278-3.364）. No statistical difference in genotype distribution or allele frequency of IL-10-819 C/T was found between cerebral infarction and control groups（P 〉 0.05）. These findings suggest that the IL-10-1082 A/G gene polymorphism is involved in cerebral infarction, and increased A allele frequency is closely associated with occurrence of cerebral infarction.