Objective: To explore the relationship between the single-nucleotide polymorphism of DNA repair gene hOGG1 and the susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the interaction between hOGG1 and environmental risk factors in a hepatocarcinoma high risk area.
Method: This hospital-based case control study was conducted in 500 HCC patients and 507 controls. The polymorphism of hOGG1-Ser326Cys was genotyped by a real time polymerase chain reaction-TaqMan MGB.
Results: The allele mutation frequencies of hOGG1-326Cys in the case group and control group were 24.60% and 10.75% respectively (P < 0.05). The genotype frequencies of hOGG1 Ser/Ser, Ser/Cys, Cys/Cys were 71.40%, 8.00% and 20.6% in the case group, and were 84.22%, 10.06% and 5.72% in the control group respectively (P < 0.05). Compared with the wild hOGG1-326Ser/Ser genotype, the mutant hOGG1 allele increased the risk of HCC (OR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.57 -2.91). The hOGG1-326Cys allele was the major determinant factor for the risk of HCC. The interaction of hOGG1-326Cys allele with chronic HBV infection (OR = 38.15, 95% CI: 18.90 - 61.71) tremendously increased the risk of HCC. The synergy index of multiplicative interaction is 0.61 and the synergy index of additive interaction is 1.31.
Conclusion: The hOGG1-326Cys allele may contribute to the risk of HCC. The synergistic interaction between hOGG1-326Cys allele and chronic HBV infection might modify the risk of HCC. Further studies with larger sample size are warranted to confirm these findings.