Interleukin-6 (-597g/A) Polymorphism in Egyptian Hepatitis C-Virus Infected Patients

Abstract

Raised levels of the interleukin (IL-6) have been reported in patients with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), but it remains debatable whether they are influencedby IL-6 promoter polymorphisms. Therefore, this current study sought to assess whether IL-6(-597G/A) promoter polymorphisms are associated with serum IL-6 levels in HCV patients. Total 102 patients and 103 healthy controls were involved. Sequence specific primers-PCR (SSP-PCR) were used for -597G/A identification . Levels of IL-6 in serum samples were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The most frequent genotypes were -597G/G in patients and -579G/A in the control group. A significant increase (P<0.001) in -597G/G, in the HCV group against controls, however -597G/A genotype was significantly decreased (P<0.001) in patients. Detection and differentiation of levels of IL-6 were significantly higher (p=0.028) in patients infected with HCV compared with normal group. In serum IL-6 level non significant increase was observed in -597 polymorphism. These results investigate the evaluation of chronic HCV infection with a particular IL-6 polymorphism -597G/A in Egyptian population and there is no effect of polymorphism in IL-6 level.