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Strong association of functional polymorphism in IL‐12B with susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B in Tunisia
Author(s) -
Ben Dhifallah Imène,
Ayouni Kaouther,
Jmel Haifa,
Kammoun Wafa,
Hamzaoui Kamel,
Sadraoui Amel,
Triki Henda
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.26946
Subject(s) - genotype , hepatitis b virus , odds ratio , genotyping , immunology , allele , biology , hepatitis b , virology , medicine , virus , genetics , gene
Abstract Background The chronicity or clearance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection depends on viral and genetic variables. The immune response against HBV is thought to be responsible for viral persistence or clearance. Cytokines such as interleukin 1‐2B (IL1‐2B) involved in the T‐helper 1 system are key mediators in the defence mechanisms against viral infection and play a role in the regulation of HBV clearance during infection. We aimed to examine whether the polymorphic variant TaqI polymorphism in the 3′‐untranslated region (3′‐UTR; rs3212227) suspected to modulate interleukin‐levels of IL‐12B has an influence on the risk of development of chronicity after HBV exposure. Methods Genotyping was performed by the polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism method for 236 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 240 controls from different cities of Tunisia recruited in the Pasteur Institute of Tunisia between January 2017 and December 2018. Results We found that the IL‐12B polymorphism was associated with a significantly increased risk of CHB in patients ( p = 1 × 10 −3 ; χ 2 = 10.31 and odds ratio [OR] = 2.14; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.30–3.52) when AC/CC variant genotypes were compared with the wild‐type AA homozygote. Statistical significance was found when CHB‐males were compared with CHB‐females ( p = 2 × 10 −7 ; χ 2 = 26.62 and p = 1 × 10 −3 ; χ 2 = 10.36, for genotypic and allelic frequencies, respectively). Also, CHB‐patients carrying C‐allele less than 50‐years were at an increased risk of developing chronic HBV infection than patients more than 50‐years ( p = 6.1 × 10 −5 ; χ 2 = 16.07). Conclusions These results suggest that the C‐allele would affect susceptibility to chronicity after HBV exposure in Tunisian patients especially for males less than 50‐years. Age and sex have an influence on this polymorphism in CHB Tunisian patients.