title: The association between Cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4, Fas, tumour necrosis factor-α gene polymorphisms and autoimmune hepatitis: a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several previous studies have assessed the association of Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Associated Antigen-4, Fas, and Tumour Necrosis Factor-α gene polymorphisms with autoimmune hepatitis risk, but the results were inconsistent and inconclusive. We performed a meta-analysis to better evaluate these associations.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, EMBASE and MEDLINE were searched in all languages. Overall odd ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to assess the strength of associations using a fixed-effects or random-effects models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  15 relevant studies were identified. No significant association was found between CTLA-4+49A/G and AH. TNF-α-308A/G was significantly associated with autoimmune hepatitis risk. Individuals with the "A" allele had a 67% increased risk of autoimmune hepatitis (odds ratio=1.67, 95% confidence interval 1.11-2.52). The genotype "AA" was a potential predisposing factor for autoimmune hepatitis, when compared with the genotype "GG" and "AG+GG" (odds ratio=2.71, 95% confidence interval 1.12-6.57; odds ratio=2.14, 95% confidence interval 1.30-3.52). Besides, no significant association was found between the Fas-670G/A and TNF-α-238A/G polymorphisms and autoimmune hepatitis risk using any model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The meta-analysis identified the TNF-α-308 "A" allele as a predisposing factor for autoimmune hepatitis, whereas the genotype "GG" was a protective factor. This study did not find a significant association between CTLA-4+49A/G, Fas-670G/A, TNF-α-238A/G and susceptibility to autoimmune hepatitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Baodong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jiangyan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: yangzaixingdiyi@163.com.
authors.forename: Zaixing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: rqzhong@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Renqian
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D019693:Hepatitis, Autoimmune / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012307:Risk Factors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; C491901:FAS protein, human; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D019014:fas Receptor
keywords: Autoimmune hepatitis; CTLA-4; Fas; Polymorphisms; TNF-α