title: Association of HLA-DQ and IFNL4 polymorphisms with susceptibility to hepatitis B virus infection and clearance.
abstract: Background and aim. Leukocyte antigen DQ (HLA-DQ) and interferon-λ4 (IFNL4) gene polymorphisms were associated with susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection. This study further confirmed that variants of these genes were associated with susceptibility and spontaneous clearance of HBV infection in a Chinese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,069 subjects were recruited and divided into three groups i.e. 397 with CLD (HBV-related chronic liver disease), 434 with SC (spontaneous clearance), and 238 HC (healthy controls). HLA-DQrs9275319 and IFNL4rs368234815, rs12971396, rs12979860, and rs8099917SNPs were genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY MALDI-TOF system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HLA-DQ rs9275319 showed a significant association with HBV infection (allele model, OR, 0.514; 95% CI, 0.359-0.738, adjusted p = 0.0003) and with natural clearance (allele model, OR, 1.659; 95% CI, 1.197-2.300, adjusted. However, there was no association between IFNL4 polymorphism and HBV susceptibility or natural clearance (all p > 0.05). The multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) test with permutation correction showed that a three-way interaction between IFNL4 and HLA-DQ SNPs was identified for HBV susceptibility (permutation p = 0.009 for the best factor model) and clearance (permutation p = 0.014 for the best factor model).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data from the current study provided additional evidence for an SNP-SNP interaction between HLA-DQ and IFNL4 in regulation to HBV infection and natural clearance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Hao
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Si-Hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qing-Ling
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000235:genetics; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D000095022:Interferon Lambda
chemical_list: D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D007378:Interleukins; C579163:IFNL4 protein, human; D000095022:Interferon Lambda