Cytokine Gene Polymorphisms in Iraqi Patients with Viral Hepatitis

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that is most commonly caused by one of the five types of hepatitis viruses; A B C D and E. These types are of a greatest concern because of the burden of illness and death they cause and the potential for outbreaks and epidemic spread worldwide; in particular types B (HBV) and C (HCV). Therefore the present study aimed to investigate the association between serum level of five cytokines (IL-2 IL-4 IL-10 TNF-α and IFN-γ) and their gene polymorphisms defined by polymerase chain reaction with sequence specific primers (SSP-PCR) at 11 positions (IL2-330 IL2+166 IL4-1098 IL4-590 IL4+33 IL10-1082 IL10-819 IL10-592 TNF-308 TNF-238 and IFNγ+874) in samples of HBV and HCV infected Iraqi patients in order to identify specific immunogenetic markers (cytokine SNPs) that may be associated with HBV and HCV infections.