Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a universal health problem. HCV infection may proceed to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The latest is the third leading global cause of cancer-related mortality. Cytokines including IL-27 and TNF-α play a major role as a link between innate and adaptive immunity which in turn deduct the outcome of HCV infection.
Aim: The present study examined the role of both (-964 A/G) single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of IL-27p28 rs153109 and (-308 G/A) SNP of TNF-α rs1800629 on the progression of HCV infection in genotype 4a infected patients.
Patients and methods: The patients enrolled in the study were divided into three main groups group I: 38 fibrotic patients, group II: 51 cirrhotic patients, and finally group III: 29 HCC patients. Sixteen healthy volunteers were used as controls. IL-27p28 rs153109 and TNF-α rs1800629 genotyping were performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the studied groups regarding the IL-27p28 genotypes. However, TNF-α (-308) studied polymorphism showed a significant difference between the HCC and fibrosis group (p = 0.00), and also between the cirrhosis and fibrosis group (p = 0.031) revealing that AA genotype is the genotype of risk. Furthermore, the association found between allele frequencies of two studied SNPs and the four studied groups were non-significant.
Conclusion: TNF-α rs1800629 polymorphism is a potential genetic-susceptibility factor for HCV related cirrhosis and HCC progression.
Keywords: HCV; IL-27; polymorphism.