OBJECTIVETo assess the association of polymorphisms of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) -DRB1 and -DQA1 region allele with outcomes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Han population of north China.

METHODSA total of 207 chronic hepatitis B (HB) patients, 212 chronic asymptomatic HBV carriers (HBV carrier), and 148 self-limited HBV infection were recruited to examine the association between gene polymorphisms and outcomes of HBV infection. Polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP) technique was used to genotype HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQA1 loci.

RESULTSThe frequency of HLA-DQA1 * 0301 in chronic HB patients (14.81%) was significantly lower than those in HBV carriers (25.24%) and self-limited HBV infection subjects (25.00%) (Pc = 0.002; Pc = 0.007). The frequency of HLA-DQA1 * 0102 in self-limited HBV infection subjects (8.78%) was significantly higher than those in chronic HB patients (2.18%) and HBV carriers (1.89%) (Pc = 0.000; P = 0.000). In addition, the frequency of HLA-DQA1 * 0302 in self-limited HBV infection subjects (4.05%) was significantly lower than that in chronic HB patients (11.41%) (Pc = 0.005). HLA-DQA1 * 0302 was demonstrated to be risk factors of chronic HBV (OR = 3.913, P = 0.0006), while HLA-DQA1* 0102 and HLA-DQA1 * 0301 to be protective factors against chronic HBV (OR = 0.200, P = 0.0004; OR = 0.258, P = 0.0000) after age, sex, smoking and drinking were adjusted by logistic regression analysis. There were positive interactions between drinking and HLA-DQA1 * 0102 [interaction index (II) = 1.49] or HLA-DQA1 * 0302 (II = 12.12). There were negative interactions between drinking and HLA-DQA1 * 0301 (II = 0.78)

CONCLUSIONSThe subjects with HLA-DQA1 * 0302 allele have an increased risk to chronic HB infection compared with other subjects without this allele, while HLA-DQA1 * 0301 and HLA-DQA1 * 0102 are associated with HBV clearness. Gene-environment interaction can affect the outcomes of HBV infection.