No association of TF gene polymorphisms with hepatitis B virus Clearance and hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence in a Korean population

Development of liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The transferrin (TF) gene encodes a blood plasma protein that delivers iron ion in the body. The iron uptake level has been shown to be different in HCC tumor regions, indicating a possible association between iron uptake level and HCC. To investigate whether genetic polymorphisms of TF are related with HBV clearance and/or HCC occurrence, we sequenced genomes of 24 individuals and detected 37 variants. Subsequently, eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TF including 4 in the promoter region, 1 in 5′UTR and 3 in coding regions were selected and genotyped in 1,101 Korean subjects including 428 spontaneously recovered (SR) patients as controls and 673 chronic carriers (CC) as cases. Results of logistic analyses adjusted for age and gender, however, revealed no significant associations of polymorphisms and haplotypes in the TF gene with HBV clearance and HCC occurrence (P > 0.05). Since age of HBV infection is a risk factor in progression to HCC, further Cox proportional regression analysis for age of HCC as a relative hazard was performed; but no association between TF polymorphisms and onset age of HCC was found (P > 0.05). Although TF gene polymorphisms have been previously reported to be associated with various diseases, our findings indicate that genetic variations of the TF gene do not influence HBV clearance and HCC occurrence in a Korean population.