title: A genome-wide association study of chronic hepatitis B identified novel risk locus in a Japanese population.
abstract: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health issue worldwide which may lead to hepatic dysfunction, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. To identify host genetic factors that are associated with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) susceptibility, we previously conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) and identified the association of HLA-DP variants with CHB in Asians; however, only 179 cases and 934 controls were genotyped using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays. Here, we performed a second GWAS of 519 747 SNPs in 458 Japanese CHB cases and 2056 controls. After adjustment with the previously identified variants in the HLA-DP locus (rs9277535), we detected strong associations at 16 loci with P-value of <5 × 10(-5). We analyzed these loci in three independent Japanese cohorts (2209 CHB cases and 4440 controls) and found significant association of two SNPs (rs2856718 and rs7453920) within the HLA-DQ locus (overall P-value of 5.98 × 10(-28) and 3.99 × 10(-37)). Association of CHB with SNPs rs2856718 and rs7453920 remains significant even after stratification with rs3077 and rs9277535, indicating independent effect of HLA-DQ variants on CHB susceptibility (P-value of 1.52 × 10(-21)- 2.38 × 10(-30)). Subsequent analyses revealed DQA1*0102-DQB1*0604 and DQA1*0101-DQB1*0501 [odds ratios (OR) =0.16, and 0.39, respectively] as protective haplotypes and DQA1*0102-DQB1*0303 and DQA1*0301-DQB1*0601 (OR = 19.03 and 5.02, respectively) as risk haplotypes. These findings indicated that variants in antigen-binding regions of HLA-DP and HLA-DQ contribute to the risk of persistent HBV infection.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Human Genome Center, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato, Tokyo.
authors.forename: Hamdi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mbarek
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ochi
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Urabe
authors.forename: Vinod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Michiaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hosono
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yoichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamatani
authors.forename: Daiki
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Tatsuhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsunoda
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kamatani
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chayama
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuda
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006682:HLA-DP Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D006682:HLA-DP Antigens; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens