Native liver fibrosis in pediatric liver recipients: association with genetic polymorphism in the TGFB1 gene

Objective: to examine the relationship between native liver fibrosis and TGFB1 gene polymorphism in pediatric liver recipients. Materials and methods. Fibrosis of varying severity was diagnosed (METAVIR scale) based on histological analysis of the native liver of children (45 boys and 62 girls aged 3 to 73 months). Genomic DNA was genotyped by real-time polymerase chain reaction using TaqMan probes. Results. The prevalence of the TGFB1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs1800469, rs1800470, and rs1800471 was examined in both children with liver fibrosis of varying severity and in healthy individuals. The distribution of rs1800470 in children with fibrosis was 50% homozygotes of major allele, 29% heterozygotes and 21% homozygotes of minor allele. This distribution was not consistent with the Hardy–Weinberg principle (p = 0.00026). Conclusion. Liver fibrosis in pediatric liver recipients is linked to the rs1800470 polymorphism of the TGFB1 gene. Carriage of the heterozygous rs1800470 genotype may be a protective factor against liver fibrosis in children with liver failure.