HLA-DQ Gene Polymorphisms Associated with Hepatitis B Virus in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression

Abstract

Background & Aims: The main cause of chronic hepatitis is Hepatitis B virus (HBV). The progression and development of hepatitis B related diseases are included liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Human leukocyte antigen-(HLA) DQ polymorphism has been observed in other recent studies dealing with the association between HBV and liver disease. Our study of Egyptian population was introduced to assess the strong association between HLA-DQ polymorphism and HBV infection in addition to the progression of HCC. The aim of this work was to estimate HLA-DQ gene polymorphisms in HBV and HCC. Methods: HLA-DQ genotype polymorphism assayed by using the ABI Taq Man allelic discrimination assay in different groups under this study. According to the relevant HLA Class II SNP literature, one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) was selected as candidate sites; it is an HLA-DQ, which showed minor allele frequency AA, GA, and GG. Results: We performed haplotype analysis to all subjects, the most frequent AA haplotype in HCC cases (18%) in comparison with HBV and healthy individuals (3%). The haplotype GA was more frequent in HCC group and slightly frequency in LC related to HBV only cases in comparison with the control group. In contrast, the GG haplotype recorded less frequently in HCC individuals, but the HBV and LC groups showed more frequency in comparison with HCC group. There is a correlation between AFP serum elevated levels of most frequency in GA and AA polymorphism for HCC cases. Conclusion: We found AA and GA haplotype were significantly most frequent in HCC. Our findings HLA-DQ AA and GG polymorphism might serve as a novel potential predictive marker for HCC and may function in tumorigenesis of HBV.