title: A trivial role of STAT4 variant in chronic hepatitis B induced hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Two polymorphisms in the STAT4 and HLA-DQ loci were more recently reported to associate with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We utilised an independent Vietnamese cohort of clinically classified HBV patients of chronic hepatitis B carriers (n=206), liver cirrhosis (n=222) and hepatocellular carcinoma (n=239) and assessed the influence of the reported variants. The STAT4 variant (rs7574865) was marginally associated with HCC susceptibility in CHB carriers in allelic and recessive genetic models (OR=0.84, 95%CI=0.7-0.99, P=0.048 and OR=0.7, 95%CI=0.5-0.99, P=0.047). No significant association between the studied variant with several clinical parameters such as liver enzymes (ALT, AST), total and direct bilirubin, AFP, HBV genotype and viral loads were observed. Our study highlights the reported variant to be a trivial factor and possibly other confounding factors may regulate STAT4 expression during HCC development.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gerlach
authors.forename: Hoang van
authors.initials: Hv
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Nghiem Xuan
authors.initials: NX
authors.lastname: Hoan
authors.forename: Le H
authors.initials: le H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Nguyen L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Toan
authors.forename: C-Thomas
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Kremsner
authors.forename: Thirumalaisamy P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Velavan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012307:Risk Factors; D050797:STAT4 Transcription Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D050797:STAT4 Transcription Factor; C494090:STAT4 protein, human
keywords: CHB induced HCC; HBV infection; HLA-DQ locus; STAT4