Association between vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and hepatitis B virus infection susceptibility: A meta-analysis study.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is still a serious public health problem. Understanding risk factors associated with development of HBV is greatly important. Numerous studies focus on relationship between vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms (TaqI, FokI, ApaI, BsmI) and the risk of HBV infection in different ethnic groups. However the results published so far are inconsistent. The aim of this study is to quantify the association between VDR polymorphisms with HBV infection by meta-analysis approach.

METHODS: A systematic search was performed in Pubmed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Database of Chinese Scientific and Technical Periodicals (VIP), and WANFANG. All the relevant studies were published up to October 2016.

RESULTS: Finally, 15 published studies included 4218 cases and 2298 controls were included in this meta-analysis. It is interesting to note that FokI FF tends to be a risk factor for HBV infection [FF vs. ff: P<0.01, OR (95%CI)=1.54 (1.19-2.00), I2 =0.0%], with no heterogeneity. In addition, genotype Ff and allele F could increase HBV infection risk [Ff vs. ff: P<0.01, OR (95%CI)=1.39 (1.13-1.72); F vs. f: P=0.02, OR (95%CI)=1.23(1.04-1.45)]. However, no associations were found about VDR TaqI, ApaI and BsmI polymorphisms with HBV infection based on each comparison model.

CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis indicates that FokI genotype FF, Ff and allele F increase the risk of HBV infection. All these results support the notion that VDR FokI genotype might has potential role in HBV susceptibility.