Journal
JOURNAL OF HEPATOLOGY
Volume 45, Issue 6, Pages 805-812Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2006.07.025
Keywords
mutation; carcinogenesis; multivariate analysis; case-control study
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Background/Aims: The hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C is associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In addition, the HBV X gene, which encodes the pleiotropic transactivator HBx, has also been associated with the development of HCC. In this study, we investigated whether nucleotide changes in the X gene of genotype C are associated with the development of HCC. Methods/Results: We sequenced the X gene in age- and sex-matched 39 HBV-infected patients with HCC and 36 HBV-infected patients without HCC. A novel nucleotide change that resulted in a proline to serine substitution at codon 38 in HBx (codon-38 change) was preferentially found in patients with HCC. Then, sera were collected from a new group of age- and sex-matched 52 patients with HCC and 51 patients without HCC. In this cohort also, the codon-38 change was associated with HCC. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed the prevalence of the codon-38 change was significantly associated with HCC in all patients (P = 0.001, odds ratio: 4.89). Conclusion: The codon-38 change in genotype C is an independent risk factor for the development of HCC and may serve as a useful molecular marker for predicting the clinical outcomes in patients infected with HBV. (c) 2006 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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