Background: Chronic hepatitis B is one of the world's major health concern. The etiological agent of this infection is hepatitis B virus (HBV), which can evade the immune system response. Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF- b1) can act against HBV by suppressing the viral replication. The TGF-b1 also plays an important role in preventing liver damage in chronically HBV infected patients.
Objectives: In this study, the association of TGF-b1+915G/C and -509C/T gene polymorphisms with chronic hepatitis B was evaluated in Iranian patients.
Materials and Methods: A population-based case–control study was conducted in Taleghani Hospital, Tehran. A number of 220 patients with chronic hepatitis B and the same number of healthy control subjects were designated the case and the control groups. The PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Method (PCR-RFLP) method was used for genotyping both polymorphisms. Ten percent of the control samples were sequenced to confirm the results.
Results: No statically significant differences in genotype distribution and allele frequency were observed for both polymorphisms between healthy controls and patients with chronic hepatitis B.
Conclusions: There was no association between TGF- b1 -509C/T and+915G/C polymorphisms with chronic hepatitis B and it seems that these changes don not play a significant role in increasing the risk of chronic infection in Iranian patients.