title: Human genetic variants of homologous recombination repair genes first found to be associated with Epstein-Barr virus antibody titers in healthy Cantonese.
abstract: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is a major risk factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Despite high prevalence of infection among the general population worldwide, only a small proportion of infected individuals presents with seropositivity for EBV-specific IgA antibodies. This seropositive subgroup of EBV carriers has an elevated cumulative risk for NPC during their lifetime. Previous studies reported that the host homologous recombination repair (HRR) system participates in EBV lytic replication, suggesting a potential mechanism to influence EBV reactivation status and thus seropositivity. To investigate whether genetic variants of HRR genes are associated with the serostatus in a healthy population, we investigated the association between seropositivity for anti-VCA-IgA and 156 tagging SNPs in 35 genes connected with HRR in an observational study among 755 healthy Cantonese speakers in southern China. Six variant alleles of MDC1, RAD54L, TP53BP1, RPA1, LIG3 and RFC1 exhibited associations with seropositivity (p(trend) from 0.0085 to 0.00027). Our study provides evidence that genetic variation within the HRR might affect an individual's propensity for EBV seropositive status of anti-VCA IgA antibody.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Ping
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Qing-Hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Ming-Huang
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Hai-De
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Ya-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Li-Zhen
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qi-Sheng
authors.initials: QS
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Jorgensen
authors.forename: Yin Yao
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Shugart
authors.forename: Yi-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Wei-Hua
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002213:Capsid / Q000276:immunology; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007070:Immunoglobulin A