Abstract :
[Background]CCR5 is identified as one of the most important chemokine receptors with a major role in the creation of chemotaxis and mobilization of immunocompetent cells and moving them toward the liver for thorough cleaning of the virus. CCR5-59353 (C/T) is an important promoter polymorphism of chemokine receptor 5. Some studies showed a relationship between CCR5-59353 (C/T) polymorphism and clearance or persistence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.[Objectives]The current study aimed at developing polymorphism CCR5-59353 (C/T) in Iranian patients with chronic HBV infection.[Methods]A total of 200 blood samples including 100 healthy controls and 100 HBsAg-positive patients were randomly selected. Samples were tested for HBsAg by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and HBV-DNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood buffy coat using the salting out method. CCR5-59353 (C/T) polymorphism was genotyped by the allele specific amplification (ASA) PCR. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis.[Results]Five percent of control samples and 12% of patient samples had CC mutant genotype. Nevertheless, there was no significant difference in genotypes frequency of CCR5-59353 between the groups (P = 0.1).[Conclusions]It seems that CCR5-59353 polymorphism was not associated with chronic HBV infection outcome in the Iranian population. However, the frequency of CC genotype was higher in the patient group (12%) than the control group (5%).
