title: Mutation analysis of DC-SIGN promoter in  chronic hepatitis B patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether there is mutation in DC-SIGN promoter region in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and healthy persons previously infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and to explore the relationship between the mutation in dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhension molecule-3-grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN) promoter region and HBV.
  
  
  METHODS
  The studied population was composed of two cohorts: 47 CHB patients and 20 healthy persons previously infected with HBV. The mutation in DC-SIGN promoter region was detected with PCR, single-stranded conformational polymorphism and heteroduplex analysis, cloning, sequencing and aligning the published DC-SIGN promoter sequence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The characteristic mutation within DC-SIGN promoter region in HBV infected individuals was observed. In the DC-SIGN promoter region, 4 hot spot mutations located in positions -139, -142, -222, and -336 were observed in the CHB patients, but only 1 spot mutation located in position -139 was observed in the healthy persons previously infected with HBV. The -336C which was absent in the healthy persons previously infected with HBV was shown in 11 CHB patients (23.40%). The -139T was far more frequent in the healthy persons previously infected with HBV (100%) than in the CHB patients (34.04%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the DC-SIGN promoter region, -336C may be a genetic risk factor for developing CHB, but -139T may be associated with protection against HBV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Congzhi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiujuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Ping'an
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Deming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D037181:Lectins, C-Type / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult; D000099215:DC-Specific ICAM-3 Grabbing Nonintegrin
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D000099215:DC-Specific ICAM-3 Grabbing Nonintegrin