Lack of relationship between PTEN 32-bp and TP53 16-bp Ins/Del polymorphisms and chronic hepatitis B virus infection

TP53 and phosphate and tension homolog (PTEN) are two tumor suppressor genes that regulate cell proliferation, migration, and death. P53 and PTEN deficiency has been associated with hepatic fibrosis, a prominent pathological feature associated with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The present study is aimed to assess the association of PTEN 32-bp Ins/Del (rs34421660) and TP53 16-bp Ins/Del polymorphisms with CHB infection susceptibility. A total of 411 subjects were recruited in this case-control study of 213 patients with CHB infection and 198 healthy individuals as controls. PTEN and TP53 deletions were detected by polymerase chain reaction method. We found no significant association between PTEN 32-bp Ins/Del polymorphism and the risk for CHB using either of codominant (Ins/Del vs. Ins/Ins: P = 0.427; Del/Del vs. Ins/Ins: P = 0.235), dominant (Ins/Del + Del/Del vs. Ins/Ins P = 0.343) or recessive genetic model (Del/Del vs. Ins/Ins + Ins/Del: P = 0.516). At allelic level although the PTEN Del variant allele was more common in CHB patients compared to controls (55 vs. 51), but the difference did not reach the statistical significant range (OR 0.87, P = 0.327). Similarly, no association was observed between TP53 16-bp Ins/Del and the risk for CHB infection at both genotype and allele levels (P > 0.05). In summary, our study demonstrated that the PTEN 32-bp and TP53 16-bp Ins/Del polymorphisms did not affect the risk of CHB infection in the Iranian population.