Genome-wide association study indicates that STAT4 is a plausible candidate for an association study with HBV-related liver diseases. We aimed to examine the roles of STAT4 polymorphisms on HBV-related liver diseases in a Chinese Han population. We selected 13 SNPs in STAT4 based on the HapMap database to investigate their associations in 3,033 participants. SNP rs7574865 was significantly associated with HBV infection [odds ratio (OR) 1.15; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.00, 1.31; P = 0.046] and clearance (OR 1.17; 95 % CI 1.02, 1.33; P = 0.028). Further, haplotype-based association analysis indicated that the haplotype CTCTT, formed by SNPs rs8179673, rs7574865, rs4274624, rs11889341, and rs10168266, was significantly associated with HBV infection (OR 0.87; 95 % CI 0.76, 0.99; P = 0.022) and clearance (OR 0.86; 95 % CI 0.75, 0.99; P = 0.018). Bioinformatics analysis of these SNPs predicted that they participate in transcriptional regulation. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that variants in STAT4 play a critical role in HBV infection and clearance in the Chinese Han population.
Keywords: Chronic hepatitis B virus; Clearance; Infection; SNPs; STAT4.