A meta-analysis of the association between IL28B polymorphisms and infection susceptibility of hepatitis B virus in Asian population

BACKGROUND: Several association studies with small sample sizes of two SNPs in IL28BB (rs12979860 and rs8099917) showed inconsistent results, so in this study, we aim to evaluate the association between the two SNPs and infection susceptibility of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) in Asian population, especially in Chinese population by meta-analysis. METHODS: Search the relevant published papers and perform meta-analysis respectively on IL28B (rs12979860 and rs8099917) in Asian population and Chinese population under an additive genetic model by STATA11.0. RESULTS: The pooled odds ratios (OR) of rs12979860 are 0.79 (95% CI, 0.53-1.18; P = 0.25, I(2) = 63.2%) and 1.62 (95% CI, 1.04-2.51; P = 0.033, I(2) = 54.3%) respectively in Asian population and Chinese population analysis. The pooled OR of rs8099917 are 1.05 (95% CI, 0.93-1.19; P = 0.44, I(2) = 43.3%) and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.84-1.23; P = 0.726, I(2) = 15.6%) respectively in Asian population and Chinese population analysis. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that T allele of rs12979680 can increase the risk of HBV infection in Chinese population but not Asian population under an additive genetic model. There is no association between rs8099917 and HBV infection in Chinese population and Asian population.