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Hepatitis B viraemia: its heritability and association with common genetic variation in the interferon γ signalling pathway
  1. Hsuan-Hao Huang1,
  2. Wei-Liang Shih1,
  3. Yi-Hsiu Li1,
  4. Chih-Feng Wu1,
  5. Pei-Jer Chen2,
  6. Chih-Lin Lin3,
  7. Chun-Jen Liu2,
  8. Yun-Fan Liaw4,
  9. Shi-Ming Lin4,
  10. Shou-Dong Lee5,
  11. Ming-Whei Yu1
  1. 1Graduate Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
  2. 2Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
  3. 3Department of Gastroenterology, Ren-Ai Branch, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  4. 4Liver Research Unit, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
  5. 5Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ming-Whei Yu, Graduate Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Room 522 No.17, Xuzhou Road Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 10055, Taiwan; yumw{at}ntu.edu.tw

Abstract

Objective High viraemia of hepatitis B virus (HBV) influences all phases in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study was designed to estimate the overall contribution of host genetics to HBV viraemia, and investigate the influence of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the interferon γ (IFNγ) signalling pathway, which is pivotal in the non-cytolytic clearance of HBV.

Methods We first determined familial correlations and heritability (ie, proportion of phenotypic variation that is attributable to additive genetic factors) for HBV viraemia using 280 HCC families, including 766 adult HBV carriers. Then family-based association analysis was conducted for viraemia with a panel of 40 SNPs across ten IFNγ-related genes. For replication, seven tagging SNPs in identified candidate regions were also tested in a further 1011 unrelated individuals with longitudinal data on HBV viraemia over 16 years.

Results After adjustment for HBV genotype and sex, significant correlations for viraemia were detected among both siblings and mother–child pairs. Heritability accounted for approximately 30% (p<0.0002) of the variance of viral load, whereas HBV genotype and sex together explained less than 3%. Heritability estimates increased up to 74.0% after further exclusion of subjects with episodes of liver biochemical abnormalities. Our initial family-based association analysis identified two SNPs (rs2284553 (intronic SNP) and rs9808753 (Q64R)) on the IFNγ receptor 2 (IFNGR2) gene that were robustly associated with viraemia after multitest correction (all p<0.02). The SNPs were also associated with the longitudinal levels of viraemia and the persistence of a high viraemia of ≥4.39 log copies/ml (all p<0.0001) in unrelated individuals.

Conclusions HBV viraemia appears to have substantial heritability. Polymorphisms in the IFNGR2 gene appear to be associated with the variability of viraemia.

  • Genotype
  • hepatitis B
  • hepatocellular carcinoma
  • single nucleotide polymorphism
  • viral load
  • cancer epidemiology
  • cancer prevention

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Footnotes

  • Funding This study was supported by grants NSC 97-3112-B-002-028 and NSC 98-3112-B-002-021 from the National Science Council, Taiwan.

  • Competing interests None.

  • Ethics approval This study was conducted with the approval of the Research Ethics Committee at the College of Public Health, National Taiwan University.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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