Role of IL-10 polymorphisms in susceptibility to hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

We conducted a case-control study to investigate the role of three common single nucleotide polymorphisms of IL-10 (-592G/A, -819T/C, and -1082A/C) in the development of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The study included 173 HBV-related HCC patients and 182 healthy controls. A polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay was applied to assess the sequence variants of interest. Compared with control subjects, HCC patients were more likely to be older (t = 1.94, P = 0.03), have a family history of cancer (chi square = 17.86, P < 0.001), and exhibit higher alanine transaminase (t = 13.32, P < 0.001) and aspartate transaminase (t = 12.63, P < 0.001) levels. Using unconditional logistic regression analyses, we found that the GG genotype of -592G/A was associated with increased risk of HCC [odds ratio (OR) = 2.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.12-4.38], compared to the AA genotype. Under a dominant model, the AG+GG genotype correlated with HBV-related HCC susceptibility compared to the AA genotype, with an OR (95%CI) of 1.56 (1.02-2.48). Moreover, a recessive model showed the GG genotype to be associated with elevated risk of HCC compared to the AA+AG genotype (OR = 1.85, 95%CI = 1.01-3.47). However, no significant association between the -819T/C and -1082A/C variants and development of HBV-related HCC was observed under codominant, dominant, and recessive models. We conclude that the IL-10 -592G/A polymorphism does play a role in susceptibility to HBV-related HCC under codominant, dominant, and recessive models.