Allele HLA‐DQB1*06 reduces fibrosis score in patients with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Aim Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) regions were highlighted as important genetic markers for various liver diseases by hepatology‐related genome‐wide association studies. Replication studies in non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are limited and none has investigated the association of HLA alleles with non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other histological characteristics. In the current study, we examined the association of HLA‐DQA1 and HLA‐DQB1 alleles with NAFLD spectrum and its histological characteristics. Methods Consecutive biopsy‐proven NAFLD patients (n=191) and healthy controls (n=188) were enrolled and genotyped for HLA‐DQA1 and HLA‐DQB1 alleles using sequence‐specific oligonucleotide‐polymerase chain reaction method. Results No association was found between the HLA alleles and NAFLD and NASH in a case‐control setting. Nevertheless, among NAFLD patients, the frequency of HLA‐DQB1*06 allele was significantly the lowest in NASH with significant fibrosis (10.4%) and about similar for NASH without significant fibrosis (22.9%) and NAFL (22.5%) (P=0.004). It is noteworthy that the association remains significant after correction for multiple comparisons (P_c=0.04). Multivariate analysis revealed that HLA‐DQB1*06 allele is also associated with fibrosis score (P=0.001), the result remains significant after correction for multiple comparisons. Conclusion These findings suggest that HLA‐DQB1*06 is associated with lower fibrosis score in NAFLD patients.