Association of VARS2‐SFTA2 polymorphisms with the risk of chronic hepatitis B in a Korean population. (10th January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cheong, Hyun Sub; Lee, Jeong‐Hoon; Yu, Su Jong; Yoon, Jung‐Hwan; Lee, Hyo‐Suk; Cheong, Jae Youn; Cho, Sung Won; Park, Neung Hwa; Park, Byung Lae; Namgoong, Suhg; Kim, Lyoung Hyo; Shin, Hyoung Doo; Kim, Yoon‐Jun
• Is Part Of: Liver international. Volume 35:Number 8(2015:Aug.)
• Page Start: 1934
• Page End: 1940
• Publication Date: 2015-01-10
• Subjects: Liver -- Periodicals; Liver -- Diseases -- Periodicals; 616.362
• DOI: 10.1111/liv.12740
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1478-3223

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="liv12740-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="liv12740-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background & Aims</title> <p>Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the most serious risk factor for chronic hepatitis B (CHB), cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Recently, several genome‐wide association studies (GWASs) identified important variants associated with the risk of CHB in Asian populations. Specifically, our previous GWAS identified the <italic>VARS2‐SFTA2</italic> gene region as one of the genetic risk loci for CHB.</p> </sec> <sec id="liv12740-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>To further characterize this association and to isolate possible causal variants within it, we performed an additional association study by genotyping more SNPs in the vicinity of the <italic>VARS2</italic> and <italic>SFTA2</italic> genes. In all, 14 SNPs of <italic>VARS2‐SFTA2</italic> were analysed among a total of 3902 subjects (1046 cases and 2856 controls).</p> </sec> <sec id="liv12740-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Logistic regression analysis revealed that six SNPs, including the previously reported <italic>rs2532932</italic>, were significantly associated with the risk of CHB (<italic>P</italic> = 1.7 × 10<sup>−10</sup>~0.002). Further linkage disequilibrium and conditional analysis identified two variants (<italic>rs9394021</italic> and <italic>rs2517459</italic>) as new markers of genetic risk factors for CHB rather than the reported SNP from our previous study (<italic>rs2532932</italic>). To evaluate the cumulative risk for CHB based on all known genetic factors, genetic risk score (GRS) were calculated. As anticipated, the distribution of the number of risk alleles in cases vs. controls clearly differed according to the GRS. Similarly, the odds ratios (ORs) were increased (OR = 0.32–3.97).</p> </sec> <sec id="liv12740-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Our findings show that common variants in the <italic>VARS2‐SFTA2</italic> gene region are significantly associated with CHB in a Korean population, which may be useful in further understanding genetic susceptibility to CHB.</p> </sec> </abstract>