CD40 polymorphisms were associated with HCV infection susceptibility among Chinese population

Background CD40, encoded by TNFRSF5 , participates in the survival of B cells, process of antigen presentation and generation of CD8+ T cell memory. It also has an important effect on HCV antiviral immune response. This study aims to investigate whether TNFRSF5 gene polymorphisms are associated with HCV infection outcomes among Chinese population. Methods Three single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) (rs1535045, rs1883832, rs4810485) on TNFRSF5 were genotyped by TaqMan assay among Chinese population, including 1513 uninfected subjects, 496 spontaneous viral clearance subjects and 768 persistent HCV-infected subjects. Logistic analysis was used to compare these SNPs among different groups in this cross-sectional study. Functional annotations of the identified SNPs were further evaluated by bioinformatics analysis. Results After adjusted by age, gender and routes of infection, the results of logistic analysis indicated that individuals carrying rs1535045 T allele had a higher risk to infect HCV compared with C allele (in recessive model, adjusted OR = 1.368, 95%CI = 1.070-1.749, P = 0.012). Subjects carried rs1535045 TT genotype were more likely to infect HCV than wild CC genotype (adjusted OR = 1.397, 95%CI = 1.078-1.809, P = 0.011). For rs1883832, T allele was significantly associated with an increased risk of HCV infection (in recessive model, adjusted OR = 1.337, 95%CI = 1.069-1.673, P = 0.011). Subjects with TT genotype had more possibility to infect HCV (adjusted OR = 1.351, 95%CI = 1.060-1.702, P = 0.015). In the stratified analysis, rs1535045 and rs1883832 were remained in various subgroups and the heterogeneity test showed no pronounced heterogeneity in any pairwise comparison (all P > 0.05). In addition, the results of the cumulative effects showed a tendency of that the more risk alleles (rs1535045 T and rs1883832 T) subjects carried, the more possibility of HCV infection exhibited ( P <0.001). In haplotype analyses, compared with the CC haplotype, CT, TC and TT was correlated with an increased risk to infect HCV ( P = 0.029, P = 0.047 and P <0.001, respectively). Conclusions In conclusion, CD40 polymorphisms were significantly associated with the susceptibility to HCV among Chinese populations.