Polymorphism of IL-12 gene (rs568408G/A) and susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B virus infection in the central area of Iran

Abstract

&NA; Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related chronicity infection, which is determined by inflammation, is the main etiological factor for this disease. Cytokines are a group of endogenous proteins which have a key role in regulating the inflammatory responses and defeating infectious diseases. IL-12 plays a main role in the clearance of infections especially by viruses such as HBV. Single nucleotide polymorphisms and genetic history have an important role about the level and function of cytokines. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of IL-12A single nucleotide polymorphism (rs568408 G/A) with chronic HBV infection. In a case–control study, genomic DNA of 148 chronic HBV-infected patients and 80 healthy controls was extracted by salting out method and single nucleotide polymorphism (rs568408 G/A) was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The frequency of rs568408 G/A gene for GG, GA, AA genotypes was 70.94, 23.6 and 5.7% in chronic patients and 46.25, 42.5 and 11.25% in control group, respectively. After genotyping and statistical analysis, significant difference was seen between the patients with chronic HBV and healthy controls (P = 0.001). Our findings indicated that IL-12A rs568408 can possibly be a risk factor for chronic HBV infection among Iranian population in Yazd province.