Interleukin 10 Cytokine Polymorphism (rs1800896) Association with the Hepatitis C in Patients from Iraq

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a significant international health concern. T-helper (Th)-2 cells secrete the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10) to regulate the humoral immune response. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the IL-10 cytokine gene polymorphism rs1800896 and its potential associations with various aspects of viral infection and susceptibility to chronic HCV infection. Methods: In this case-control study, 180 participants were enrolled from the Digestive and Liver Diseases Teaching hospital in Baghdad Medical city during 2023 and 2024. The study included 100 individuals with HCV infection and 80 healthy controls. Blood samples were collected, and genomic DNA was extracted using the ReliaPrepTM blood g-DNA mini-prep system. The IL-10 target sequence was amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and genotyped by sequencing. Results: Significant differences in genotype frequencies of IL-10 rs1800896 were observed between the HCV patient and control groups for the AA and AG genotypes (P = 0.046, P = 0.009, respectively). A dominant model AG + GG genotype showed a correlation with HCV susceptibility compared to the AA genotype, with an OR of 1.93 (95% CI; 1.60 to 3.52). Furthermore, the over-dominant model indicates that individuals with the AG genotype have a significantly higher likelihood of developing HCV compared to those with the AA + GG genotypes (OR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.26 - 3.31). No statistically significant associations were found between the genotypes GG, AG, and AA and demographic characteristics. Conclusions: The presence of a dominant or over-dominant model suggests that the IL-10 gene rs1800896 polymorphism may contribute to susceptibility to HCV. Further investigation into the links between IL-10 and Hepatitis C is warranted.