X-Ray Repair Cross Complementing 4 (XRCC4) Genetic Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and the Liver Toxicity of AFB1 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Our previous reports have shown that the genetic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (GSNPs) in the DNA repair gene X-ray repair cross complementing 4 (XRCC4) are involved in the carcinogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) induced by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). However, the effects of GSNPs in the coding regions of XRCC4 on hepatic toxicity of AFB1 have been less investigated. We conducted a hospital-based clinic tissue samples with pathologically diagnosed HCC (n = 380) in a high AFB1 exposure area to explore the possible roles of GSNPs in the coding regions of XRCC4 in AFB1-induced HCC using liver toxicity assays. A total of 143 GSNPs were included in the present study and genotyped using the SNaPshot method, whereas the liver toxicity of AFB1 was evaluated using AFB1-DNA adducts in the tissues with HCC. In the clinicopathological samples with HCC, the average adduct amount is 2.27 (cid:1) 1.09 μ mol/mol DNA. Among 143 GSNPs of XRCC4, only rs1237462915, rs28383151, rs762419679, rs766287987, and rs3734091 significantly increased the levels of AFB1-DNA adducts. Furthermore, XRCC4 GSNPs (including rs28383151, rs766287987, and rs3734091) also increased cumulative hazard for patients with HCC. These results suggest that the liver toxicity of AFB1 may be modified by XRCC4 GSNPs.