Association of cytokine genetic polymorphisms with the humoral immune response to recombinant vaccine against HBV in infants

The prevention of hepatitis B by vaccination is one the most efficient tools to avoid the transmission of the virus, although a considerable variability to the anti-HBsAg antibody response has been described. Recently, polymorphisms of cytokine regulating genes have been described which seem to influence the immune response to various antigens. This article's objective was to evaluate the influence of cytokine genetic polymorphisms onto the humoral immune response to hepatitis B vaccine in infants. Vaccinated children were classified according to the level of anti-HBsAg antibody titles. The genotyping for TNF (-308), TGFB1 (+869, +915), IL-10 (-1082, -819, -592), IL-6 (-174), and IFNG (+874) was accomplished by the PCR-SSP technique. The TNF (-308) allele A presented a lower but not statistically significant frequency at 5% level in high responder patients (3.7% vs. 12.3%, P = 0.0919). The same was seen for the TNF (-308) genotype GA (7.4% vs. 24.5%, P = 0.0757). Further studies in other populations and evaluation of a greater number of individuals may contribute for a better understanding of the cytokine gene polymorphism influence in general and TNF polymorphism more specifically in the humoral immune response to the HBsAg vaccination in newborn children. J. Med. Virol. 82:929-933, 2010.