A p53 polymorphism associated with increased risk of hepatitis C virus infection

Incidence of polymorphisms on exon 4 (CGC vs. CCC, p53Arg vs. p53Pro, A2 al lele vs. At allele at codon 72, respectively) of the p53 gene was compared in 75 cases with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and 232 noninfected cont rol subjects in a defined geographical area in Japan. Polymorphism was anal yzed by the polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphi sm method using DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes. When all cases and co ntrols were compared, there was no significant correlation between hepatiti s C virus (HCV) infection and the p53 polymorphism in question. However, wh en male cases infected with HCV type lb, the most common viral genotype, we re compared with controls matched by sex and age, significantly higher homo zygotes for p53Pro were found in cases compared with controls (P = 0.039). Significantly higher allelic frequency of this polymorphism was also observ ed with cases (P = 0.010). We found no significant statistical difference b etween the p53 polymorphism and other genotypes of HCV (2a, 2b and others). On the basis of our study we believe there exists a significant correlatio n between male homozygotes for p53Pro with HCV type lb infection. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.