Association of Vitamin D Receptor Polymorphisms with Response to Antiviral Therapy in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Objective To assess the influence of vitamin D receptor (VDR) geneBsmⅠ, FokⅠ,TaqⅠandApaⅠ polymorphisms on the response to antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Methods There were total 124 patients with CHC treated with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin.VDRgeneBsmⅠ, FokⅠ,TaqⅠandApaⅠpolymorphisms were analyzed in 71 patients with sustained virological response (SVR) and 53 patients without SVR (non-SVR) by polymerase chain reaction-MassARRAY (PCR-MassARRAY). Results The distributions ofVDRgenotype met Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (all P>0.05)．There were no significant differences inVDR FokⅠ,TaqⅠandApaⅠallele and genotype frequencies between SVR and non-SVR patients(all P>0.05)．TheBsmⅠ(GA) genotype was significant higher in the patients with SVR compared to those with non-SVR (χ2 =3.967, P=0.046). Three SNPs atVDRgene (BsmⅠ, FokⅠ,TaqⅠandApaⅠ) were in strong linkage disequilibrium. Linkage disequilibrium coefficient (D’) betweenBsmⅠandTaqⅠwas 1.000 and the correlation coefficient (r2 ) was 0.741. D’ betweenBsmⅠ andApaⅠwas 1.000 and r2 was 0.082. D’ betweenTaqⅠ andApaⅠwas 0.829 and r2 was 0.076. No relation existed between haplotypes and response to therapy ( P>0.05). Conclusion Vitamin D receptor geneBsmⅠ polymorphism may be associated with the therapeutic response to antiviral therapy with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients.