Evaluation of Interleukin-10 Gene Promoter Polymorphism (-819 C/T) in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Hepatitis B infection is a major epidemiological problem. The clinical outcome of hepatitis B virus infection varies between individuals from spontaneous viral clearance to chronic hepatitis. This diversity may be due to variations in genes encoding cytokines. Interleukin 10, as an anti-inflammatory cytokine, may have an effect on susceptibility to hepatitis B infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of interleukin-10 gene promoter polymorphism (-819 C/T) (rs1800871) as a possible factor for predicting susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
Blood samples were collected from 122 patients with hepatitis B according to positive result of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and 138 healthy subjects as control group. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay was used for polymorphism genotyping.
Findings: There was a higher frequency of CT genotype among the patients with hepatitis B (50.8%) in comparison with healthy controls (32.6%). Statistically significant differences were found in the genotype (P = 0.007) and allele (P = 0.018) frequencies of interleukin-10 gene promoter polymorphism (-819 C/T) between the patients with hepatitis B and healthy controls.
Our findings indicate that interleukin-10 gene promoter polymorphism (-819 C/T) may be associated with chronic hepatitis B virus infection and it can serve as a possible predictive factor for the development of chronic hepatitis B infection.