Abstract
Sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide has been identified as the hepatitis B virus (HBV) entry receptor. However, information regarding the role of sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide variants in the development of HBV-related advanced cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma is limited. Overall, 581 patients with chronic HBV infection were divided into the liver fibrosis or cirrhosis group based on the Fibrosis-4 index. Further, 183 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were distributed into early/intermediate and advanced/end stage groups based on Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Staging approach. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms were genotyped by high resolution melting curve method. Serum biomarkers of liver function were detected, and hepatocellular carcinoma properties were collected as well. Subjects with GA+AA genotypes at the rs4646287 polymorphism site were associated with a significantly higher rate of fibrosis development (rs4646287 GA+AA genotypes were 13.7% and 20.0% in the non-fibrosis and fibrosis group, respectively; p = 0.038). There were no significant differences between sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide polymorphisms and hepatocellular carcinoma progression. The GA+AA genotype carriers of rs7154439 had relatively high albumin levels (p = 0.035). The rs2296651 GA genotype carriers tended to have solitary tumor nodule and without metastasis (p = 0.004 and 0.015, respectively). Rs4646287 was associated with HBV-related fibrosis development. Sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide polymorphisms were correlated with serum albumin level as well as hepatocellular carcinoma multifocality and metastasis. Therefore, integrating sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide polymorphisms to a risk stratification algorithm may help clinicians manage the chronic HBV infection patients better.
Highlights
Sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide has been identified as the hepatitis B virus (HBV) entry receptor
NTCP polymorphisms were associated with HBVrelated fibrosis
According to the FIB-4 index, patients were divided into non-fibrosis (211, 36.3%) and fibrosis (370, 63.7%) groups; the latter group consisted of non-cirrhosis (215, 58.1%) and cirrhosis patients (155, 41.9%)
Summary
Sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide has been identified as the hepatitis B virus (HBV) entry receptor. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatic fibrosis culminating into cirrhosis are principal causes of chronic liver disease-related mortality leading to more than 2.1 million deaths annually [1,2] Both of these disorders process dynamically; screening populations and identifying individuals at a high risk of disease progression could be advantageous for determining the prognosis and translating potential therapeutic targets into clinical practice. As heritable factors were long considered to have a dominant role in explaining the interindividual variation of human infection susceptibility [6], several genetic association studies have been carried out, which explored the relationship between NTCP polymorphisms and HBV-related clinical outcomes Most of these studies focused on rs2296651, an Asianspecific non-synonymous variant with a minor allele frequency ranging from 3.1% to 9.2% among different Asian populations [7], which could diminish the virus receptor function of NTCP in vitro [8].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
