The association study of the polymorphisms of interferon-inducible genes OAS and the seroconversion of HBsAg and HBeAg in patients with HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B infection receiving interferon-αand nucleotide analogue combined therapy

Objective To evaluate the role of host single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 2′, 5′-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) in predicting IFN response in patients with HBeAg-positive chronic HBV infection.Methods OAS gene and four SNPs were examined in 277 patients with HBeAg-positive chronic HBV infection who were treated with IFNα and Nucleotide analogue (NA) .Therapeutic effects were evaluated based on HBsAg and HBeAg seroconversion, resulting in HBsAg seroconversion group, HBeAg seroconversion group, and non-response (NR) group.50 persons with self limiting HBV infection was selected as control.Results Patients reached HBsAg seroconversion were 41 (14.80%) , HBeAg seroconversion were 102 (36.82%) , NR 134 (48.38%) .The frequencies of OAS3 C allele revealed significant association among HBsAg seroconversion, HBeAg seroconversion, NR and control groups (χ2=16.2, P=0.001) .For HBsAg seroconversion and NR, frequency of OAS3 CC+TC genotype is significantly different with an odds ratio (OR) of 3.17 (P=0.07) .The frequency of ACCG and CCTG OAS haplotype were significantly different between non-response and response group (χ2=4.39, P=0.04;χ2=4.89, P=0.03) .Conclusion OAS haplotypes may play an important role in response to IFNα and provide a novel strategy for the resolution of HBsAg and HBeAg seroconversion in patients with HBeAg-positive HBV infections.