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Article

Association Between Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Fibrosis Susceptibility in Greek Patients with HCV Infection

by
Angeliki Anna Beka
1,*,
Vasileios Papadopoulos
2,
Theodora Mylopoulou
3,
Maria Panopoulou
4,
Ioannis Karakasiliotis
5,
Penelope Mavromara
1,†,
Konstantinos Mimidis
3,† and
Stavroula Veletza
5,†
1
Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Virology, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
2
ENARGEIA Medical Ltd., Michael Karaoli 8 & Elpidos 6, 67131 Xanthi, Greece
3
First Department of Internal Medicine, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Dragana, 68100, Alexandroupolis, Greece
4
Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
5
Laboratory of Biology, Department of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Co-last authors.
GERMS 2022, 12(3), 384-393; https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1342
Submission received: 11 June 2022 / Revised: 18 August 2022 / Accepted: 27 August 2022 / Published: 30 September 2022

Abstract

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a prime cause of chronic hepatitis worldwide, that often silently progresses to fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Notably, the majority of individuals infected with HCV develop symptoms at late stages, often associated with liver damage that cannot revert after virus clearance. Thus, current antiviral therapy alone is rather insufficient to eliminate the global burden of HCV in the near future. During the past few years, vitamin D deficiency as well as certain single nucleotide polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been associated with liver fibrosis. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible correlation between VDR polymorphisms ApaI (rs7975232) and TaqI (rs731236) and the fibrosis stage of patients with HCV infection from Thrace, Greece. Methods: Eighty-one patients with HCV infection underwent transient elastography for the assessment of their fibrosis stage, and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) genotyping for VDR ApaI and TaqI polymorphisms. VDR genotypes were then statistically associated with the patients’ fibrosis stage using ordinal regression models. Results: Non-cirrhotic stages were positively correlated with TaqI TT genotype (p = 0.003) and negatively correlated with TaqI TC genotype (p = 0.007). In the presence of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium between the two VDR polymorphisms, mild fibrosis stages (F0-2) were correlated with ApaI/TaqI GG/TT (p = 0.002) and TG/TT (p = 0.008) genotypes, while cirrhotic stage F4 was associated with ApaI/TaqI TG/TC genotype (p = 0.038). Conclusions: TaqI TT and ApaI/TaqI GG/TT, TG/TT and TG/TC genotypes could be explored as prognostic genetic markers for fibrosis susceptibility in HCV patients.
Keywords: fibrosis; liver; hepatitis C; genetic markers; single nucleotide polymorphism; calcitriol receptor; vitamin D fibrosis; liver; hepatitis C; genetic markers; single nucleotide polymorphism; calcitriol receptor; vitamin D

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MDPI and ACS Style

Beka, A.A.; Papadopoulos, V.; Mylopoulou, T.; Panopoulou, M.; Karakasiliotis, I.; Mavromara, P.; Mimidis, K.; Veletza, S. Association Between Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Fibrosis Susceptibility in Greek Patients with HCV Infection. GERMS 2022, 12, 384-393. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1342

AMA Style

Beka AA, Papadopoulos V, Mylopoulou T, Panopoulou M, Karakasiliotis I, Mavromara P, Mimidis K, Veletza S. Association Between Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Fibrosis Susceptibility in Greek Patients with HCV Infection. GERMS. 2022; 12(3):384-393. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1342

Chicago/Turabian Style

Beka, Angeliki Anna, Vasileios Papadopoulos, Theodora Mylopoulou, Maria Panopoulou, Ioannis Karakasiliotis, Penelope Mavromara, Konstantinos Mimidis, and Stavroula Veletza. 2022. "Association Between Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Fibrosis Susceptibility in Greek Patients with HCV Infection" GERMS 12, no. 3: 384-393. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1342

APA Style

Beka, A. A., Papadopoulos, V., Mylopoulou, T., Panopoulou, M., Karakasiliotis, I., Mavromara, P., Mimidis, K., & Veletza, S. (2022). Association Between Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Fibrosis Susceptibility in Greek Patients with HCV Infection. GERMS, 12(3), 384-393. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2022.1342

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