The Association of Polymorphisms in Cytokine Genes with Acute Rejection and the Pathogenesis of Hepatitis B and C in Liver Transplant Recipients

Abstract

Objective: In this study, the role of cytokine allelic variations in susceptibility to acute graft rejection and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections was evaluated in liver transplant recipients. Methods: Polymorphisms of interleukin 6 (IL-6) G-174C, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) T+869C, IL-4 C-590T, and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) T+874A cytokines from 83 liver transplant recipients were evaluated by amplification refractory mutation systempolymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods. Results: In liver transplant recipients who experienced acute liver rejection and HBV infection, the frequency of the IFN-γ AA and TT genotypes was significantly higher than that of the AT genotype. In the patients who experienced acute liver rejection but were not infected with HCV, the frequency of the IL-6 GG genotypes was significantly greater than that of the GC and CC genotypes. The frequency of the IL-6 GG/TGF-β TT genotype combinations was significantly higher in patients whose bodies rejected the new liver (hereafter referred to as “rejection patients”) than in patients whose bodies did not reject the new liver (hereafter referred to as “nonrejection patients”) (39% and 10%, respectively). Also, IL-6 CC/TGF-β CT was significantly lower in the rejection patients than in the nonrejection patients (0% and 15%, respectively).