Abstract:

Objective   To study the relationship between the ethanol dehydrogenase 2 (ADH2) gene′s Arg47His mutation and chronic hepatitis B. Method   The ADH2 gene Arg47His mutation was analyzed with PCR-RFLPin in 252 Chinese Han nationality chronic hepatitis B patients (CHB Group) and 223 healthy individuals (Control group). Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the relationship between the ADH2 gene Arg47His mutation and chronic hepatitis B. Result   The distributions of the ADH2 gene Arg47His mutations, Arg/Arg, Arg/Hisand His/His were significantly different between the CHB Group and the Control Group(13.1%, 48.4% and 38.5% vs. 7.2%,  42.6% and 50.2; P＝0.014). Arg and His allele frequencies in the mutated gene were also significantly different between the two groups (37.3% and 62.7% vs. 28.5% and 71.5%; P＝0.005). The wild type gene and allele frequency in the CHB Group was significantly higher than in the Control Group. With the His/His genotype as a reference group, the OR values of Arg/His and Arg/Arg were 1.48(95％ CI：1.01-2.17)and 2.38(95％ CI：1.24-4.59), respectively. After considering gender, age, smoker/nonsmoker, alcoholic/non-alcohokic, and with/without hepatitis family history，the OR values were adjusted to 1.46 (95％ CI：0.97-2.19) and 2.51(95％ CI：1.25-5.02), respectively. Conclusion   The wild-type ADH2 Arg47His mutation may be one of the pathogenetic risk factors for chronic hepatitis among Chinese Han populations.

Key words: Hepatitis B, Chronic;   Gene; Mutation; Interaction