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Association of STAT4 polymorphisms with hepatitis B virus infection and clearance in Chinese Han population

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Abstract

Genome-wide association study indicates that STAT4 is a plausible candidate for an association study with HBV-related liver diseases. We aimed to examine the roles of STAT4 polymorphisms on HBV-related liver diseases in a Chinese Han population. We selected 13 SNPs in STAT4 based on the HapMap database to investigate their associations in 3,033 participants. SNP rs7574865 was significantly associated with HBV infection [odds ratio (OR) 1.15; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.00, 1.31; P = 0.046] and clearance (OR 1.17; 95 % CI 1.02, 1.33; P = 0.028). Further, haplotype-based association analysis indicated that the haplotype CTCTT, formed by SNPs rs8179673, rs7574865, rs4274624, rs11889341, and rs10168266, was significantly associated with HBV infection (OR 0.87; 95 % CI 0.76, 0.99; P = 0.022) and clearance (OR 0.86; 95 % CI 0.75, 0.99; P = 0.018). Bioinformatics analysis of these SNPs predicted that they participate in transcriptional regulation. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that variants in STAT4 play a critical role in HBV infection and clearance in the Chinese Han population.

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Abbreviations

HBV:

Hepatitis B virus

HCC:

Hepatocellular carcinoma

CHB:

Chronic hepatitis B

LC:

Liver cirrhosis

STAT4:

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 4

HBsAg:

Hepatitis B surface antigen

HBsAb:

Hepatitis B surface antibody

HBeAg:

Hepatitis B e antigen

HBeAb:

Hepatitis B e antibody

HBcAb:

Hepatitis B core antibody

HCsAb:

Hepatitis C surface antibody

ALT:

Serum alanine aminotransferase

AsC:

Asymptomatic carriers

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. David L. Bronson for his excellent editing of this manuscript. This study was in part supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project (No. 2012ZX10002004) and the Chinese High Technology Research and Development program (No. 2012AA020204), Research Center for Air Pollution and Health of Zhejiang University, and Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2012AA020405).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China

    Xianzhong Jiang, Kunkai Su, Jingjing Tao, Rongli Fan, Yi Xu, Haijun Han, Lanjuan Li & Ming D. Li

  2. Research Center for Air Pollution and Health, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China

    Ming D. Li

  3. Institute of NeuroImmune Pharmacology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA

    Ming D. Li

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  1. Xianzhong Jiang
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  2. Kunkai Su
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  4. Rongli Fan
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  5. Yi Xu
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  6. Haijun Han
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  7. Lanjuan Li
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Correspondence to Lanjuan Li or Ming D. Li.

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Jiang, X., Su, K., Tao, J. et al. Association of STAT4 polymorphisms with hepatitis B virus infection and clearance in Chinese Han population. Amino Acids 48, 2589–2598 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-016-2283-3

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