Premium
Association of genetic variants in the interleukin‐18 gene promoter with risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and metastasis in patients with hepatitis C virus infection
Author(s) -
Bakr Noha M.,
Awad Ashraf,
A. Moustafa Emad
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
iubmb life
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.132
H-Index - 113
eISSN - 1521-6551
pISSN - 1521-6543
DOI - 10.1002/iub.1714
Subject(s) - hepatocellular carcinoma , genotype , medicine , allele , hepatitis c virus , metastasis , gastroenterology , malignancy , case control study , oncology , immunology , gene , biology , virus , cancer , genetics
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignancy of the liver, characterized by high vascularization and rapid tumor progression. The current case–control study aimed to analyze the influence of −607C/A and −137G/C polymorphisms in the interleukin‐18 (IL‐18) promoter on the risk of HCC occurrence and metastasis in Egyptian patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Both genetic variations were genotyped in 279 subjects including HCV patients with and without HCC and unrelated healthy subjects, using the allele‐specific polymerase chain reaction (AS‐PCR) method. The relationship between clinico‐laboratory parameters including serum level of alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) and these polymorphisms was evaluated in HCC patients. The IL‐18‐607A allele and AA genotype were significantly related to a higher risk of developing HCC when comparing patients with HCC and controls, and were significantly related to a higher risk of metastasis when comparing metastatic and nonmetastatic groups in the Egyptian patients. In contrast, the IL18‐137C allele and GC genotype were significantly related to a lower risk of developing HCC when comparing patients with HCC and controls, and HCV patients with and without HCC. A significant association was found between multinodular HCC and IL‐18‐607AA genotype, while, uninodular HCC was significantly associated with IL‐18‐137GG genotype. In addition, IL18‐607AA and −137GG genotypes showed significant association with higher level of serum AFP. The detection of polymorphisms in the IL‐18 promoter, in a combination with an evaluation of level of serum AFP, could be used as a molecular biomarker in the early diagnosis of HCC, which would aid the early management of the disease, thus decreasing the rate of mortality of this disease. © 2018 IUBMB Life, 70(2):165–174, 2018