ANTIGEN-PROCESSING POLYMORPHISMS IN CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C INFECTION

Background. Cytotoxic T cell (CTL) responses may influence the course of a hepatitis C infection. CTL recognize viral peptides on HLA class I molecules. Antigenic peptides for class I presentation are generated by proteasomes and transported into the endoplasmic reticulum by the TAP proteins. It is unknown whether polymorphisms of the antigen-proce ssing genes might influence the development of chronic hepatitis C. Me thods. 75 patients with chronic hepatitis C and 99 unrelated controls were typed for TAP and LMP2 polymorphisms. Typing was done by allele-s pecific PCR techniques and PCR with subsequent single-stranded confirm ation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. Results. Apart from minor increase s of the TAP20101 allele and LMP2 heterozygotes in the chronic hepati tis group there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Conclusions. These findings suggest, that disease asso ciation for chronic hepatitis C does not extend beyond the HLA-DQ locu s. Although TAP and LMP play an important role in the processing of vi ral antigens, their limited polymorphisms do not show any association with the development of chronic hepatitis C.