Subchronic toxicity of propyl paraben IL-28B rs12979860 gene polymorphism as a predictor for hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian patients with chronic HCV genotype four

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common tumor worldwide. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is largely responsible for the increase in incidence of HCC. There are few and controversial data available on the association between IL-28B single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and severity of liver fibrosis, presence of cirrhosis or developing HCC. So, the current study aimed to investigate the association between rs12979860 SNP of IL-28B gene and HCC in Egyptian patients infected with HCV genotype 4. This
hospital-based study included 150 patients with HCV infection that were classified into three groups: 50 patients with chronic hepatitis, 50 patients with cirrhosis, and 50 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The plasma Human interleukin 28B levels, liver enzymes activities and serum levels of total proteins, albumin, and fetoprotein were measured. Also, Genotyping of IL-28B rs12979860 C/T allele Polymorphism was carried out using RFLP-PCR. Fifty patients (33.3%) were CC homozygous genotype, whereas, the other 100 patients were either TT or CT. The genotype TT was more frequent in HCC group in comparison to chronic hepatitis group. In addition, Tcarriers increase significantly in HCC group than chronic hepatitis group. Also, IL-28B and -FP were significantly different in Tcarriers
than CC genotype, and in HCC patients in comparison to either chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis patients. In conclusion, this study suggests that in IL-28B rs12979860 C/T polymorphism, the T allele appears to be more prevalent in patients with end stage liver disease (liver cirrhosis and HCC). Furthermore, chronic HCV infection with end stage liver disease may be associated with a reduced IL-28B production. Further research is needed to reveal the cause-effect of these polymorphisms on host protective  immunity against HCV infection.

Key words: IL-28B Gene Polymorphism-Hepatocellular carcinoma –
chronic HCV