Impact of the IL-10 Promoter Gene Polymorphisms in the Severity of Chronic Hepatitis B Infection

Background: interleukin-10 (il-10) is an important anti-inflammatory cytokine. the polymorphisms of its promoter gene have been considered to be related with the chronicity of hepatitis b infection. objectives: the aim of this study was to evaluate the polymorphisms at different positions in the il-10 promoter gene in patients with chronic hepatitis b. patients and methods: totally, 166 patients with chronic hepatitis b infection were enrolled. genotypes at different positions (i.e. -819, - 592, and - 1082) in the il-10 gene promoter were determined. results: the c/a genotype at position -592, c/t genotype at position -819, and gcc/ata haplotype of the il-10 gene promoter were significantly more common in the patients with cirrhosis. the genotypes were significantly different between the hepatitis b e antigen (hbeag)-negative and hbeag-positive patients at position -592 (c/a and c/c), position -819 (c/c and c/t), and position -1082 (a/a and g/a). conclusions: some il-10 promoter gene polymorphisms predisposed the infected hepatitis b virus cases to cirrhosis in our study population.