The role of IL-6 -174C/G polymorphism in hepatitis B virus infection: a genetic association study

The development of the disease after infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is linked to single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). SNPs' involvement in patients' persistent HBV infection is still unknown, though. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to assess the IL-6174C/G polymorphism in hepatitis B-infected Iraqi patients. The results revealed that serum HBV patients had higher levels of several interleukins, including IL-2, which exhibited a significant ( P < 0.05) increase in individuals (237.04 ± 16.29 pg/mL) in comparison to the control group (115.42 ± 12.82 pg/mL). Serum IL-4 levels in HBV patients showed a substantial (P < 0.05) decrease as compared to healthy individuals (19.57 ± 1.63 pg/mL vs. 6.85 ± 0.53 pg/mL). When compared to the control group (13.44 ± 1.71 pg/mL), IL-6 levels showed a substantial (P < 0.05) increase in individuals (36.08 ± 1.67 pg/mL). For molecular study, in the patient hepatitis infection sample, the G allele was 65.6%, while the G allele in the control group was 31.1%. While the allele C in the sample of patients was 34.4%, compared to the allele T in the control group, which was 68.9%. The frequency of these genotypes among patients was 56.7%, 16.7%, and 26.6%, respectively, compared with 24.4%, 27.8%, and 47.8%, respectively, among controls. The frequency of GG varied significantly, according to statistics (OR = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.03–0.42, P = 0.001) and the CC genotype (OR = 1.63, 95% CI = 0.5–4.73, p = 0.031) between patients and controls. The mutant allele (allele G) was more common among patients than controls (65.6% vs. 31.1%) with a highly significant change (OR = 0.273, 95% CI = 0.31–0.13, p = 0.001).