Association of TNF-α-308 polymorphisms with risk of chronic HBV infection in the Chinese population: a meta-analysis

Abstract

To explore the association between TNF-α gene 308 locus polymorphism and the risk of chronic HBV infection in Chinese population. PubMed,Embase, CNKI and SinoMed database were searched for relevant articles published from January 2001 to May 2013. Case-control studies on TNF-α-308 polymorphism with chronic HBV infection in Chinese population were gathered with meta-analysis applied for calculation of pooled OR value(with 95% CI)after data abstraction. Eleven case-control studies for the TNF-α-308 polymorphism with a total of 1 872 cases and 1 471 controls were included. Results from the overall meta-analysis indicated that -308A allele had a significant decreased risk of chronic HBV infection (A vs. G:OR = 0.579, 95%CI:0.422-0.794; GA vs. GG:OR = 0.525, 95%CI:0.325-0.847; AA vs. GG:OR = 0.301, 95%CI: 0.125-0.720; GA+AA vs. GG: OR = 0.490, 95%CI:0.309-0.777; AA vs. GA+GG: OR = 0.542, 95% CI:0.394-0.746). In subgroup analyses by region, a significantly decreased risk seemed associated with -308A allele in population from northern China. When stratified by case type, control type and genotyping methods, there appeared no significant association between TNF-α-308A allele and chronic HBV infection in the studies when spontaneously recovered one's were used as controls and PCR used as its methodology. TNF-α-308A allele seemed a protective factor for chronic HBV infection in the Chinese population.