title: Association of genetic variants in estrogen receptor α with HCV infection susceptibility and viral clearance in a high-risk Chinese population.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that genetic variants of estrogen receptor α (ERα) are associated with the outcomes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We genotyped the seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs2077647, rs9340799, rs2234693, rs1801132, rs9322354, rs2228480 and rs3798577) of ERα and conducted a case-control study in a high-risk Chinese population, including 429 HCV spontaneous clearance cases, 880 persistent infection cases and 1,174 uninfected controls. The C allele of rs2234693 was significantly associated with increased susceptibility to HCV infection [dominant model: adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.377, 95% confidence interval (CI) =1.126-1.778], and the risk effect remained significant among the younger (≤55 years) and hemodialysis subjects (all P < 0.007). The other three SNPs variant genotypes also showed significant correlation with elevated risk of HCV infection in different strata (rs2077647 in males; rs9340799 in blood donors; rs1801132 in younger subjects; all P < 0.007). It was also discovered that carriage of rs2228480 A allele was more prone to develop persistent HCV infection (dominant model: adjusted OR = 1.203, 95% CI = 1.154-1.552), and the risk effect was more evident in females and blood donors (all P < 0.007). Haplotype analyses (rs2077647, rs9340799 and rs2234693) showed that, compared with the most frequent haplotype TAT, CAC played a risk effect in subgroups of younger (P = 3.24 × 10(-3)) and male (P = 5.51 × 10(-4)), whereas CAT expressed a protective effect in females (P = 2.27 × 10(-4)) for HCV infection susceptibility. We first report that these SNPs (rs2077647, rs9340799, rs2234693, rs1801132 and rs2228480) in ERα can influence the outcomes of HCV infection in a high-risk Chinese population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Shaidi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Jiajia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Rongbin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Donghui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
chemical_list: D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha