Identification of two gene variants associated with risk of advanced fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C

Hongin Huang, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
M L. Shiffman
R C. Cheung
T J. Layden
S Friedman
O T. Abar, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
L Yee
Anand Chokkalingam, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
Steven J. Schrodi, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
Jason Chan, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
Joseph J. Catanese, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
Diane U. Leong, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
David Ross, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
Xiaolan Hu, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
A Monto, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
Linda B. McAllister, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
Sam Broder, Celera Genomics, Inc
Tom White, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
John J. Sninsky, Celera Diagnostics, Inc
T L. Wright

Abstract

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Previously identified clinical risk factors such as sex, alcohol consumption, and age at infection do not accurately predict which patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) will develop advanced fibrosis (bridging fibrosis and cirrhosis). The aim of this study was to identify genetic polymorphisms that can predict the risk of advanced fibrosis in patients with CHC. METHODS: A total of 916 subjects with CHC was enrolled from 2 centers. A gene-centric disease association study of 24,832 putative functional, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was performed. Of the 1609 SNPs that were significantly associated (P