Associations of DC-SIGN (CD209) promoter -336G/A polymorphism (rs4804803) with dengue infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Dengue virus entry into a host is associated with a cell surface protein, DC-SIGN (dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3 grabbing non-integrin). A common CD209-336G/A (rs4804803) polymorphism in DC-SIGN may affect severity of dengue virus infection (DEN) and incidence of dengue fever (DF) or the more severe dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). However, the reported associations of these two outcomes and CD-209 have been inconsistent, which prompted a meta-analysis to obtain more precise estimates.

METHODS: A literature search yielded seven case-control studies. We calculated pooled odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals using standard genetic models. Outlier treatment examined sources of potential heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis was performed for ethnicity and age.

RESULTS: All significant outcomes for association indicating reduced risk were pegged at P=0.007-0.05. In the homozygous and recessive models, these were observed in the overall analysis (OR 0.52-0.55), and subgroups of South/Central Americans (OR 0.30-0.32) and school-age children (OR 0.44) in the DHF analysis as well as the codominant model among Asians in DF (OR 0.59). These significant outcomes are strengthened by their non-heterogeneity (P>0.10) and robustness of the effects. Most pooled effects in DF and DEN were variable.

CONCLUSIONS: The DC-SIGN -336G/A polymorphism significantly affects DHF and DF incidence with the effect more pronounced in certain analyzed patient subgroups.