CCL5-28, CCL5-403, and CCR5 genetic polymorphisms and their synergic effect with alcohol and tobacco consumptions increase susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma

The aim of this study was to estimate the relationship between gene polymorphisms of CCL5-28, CCL5-403, and CCR5 to the susceptibility of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A total of 449 subjects, including 347 healthy controls and 102 patients with HCC, were recruited in this study and subjected to polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to investigate the impact of these two polymorphic variants on HCC. A significant association between HCC susceptibility and genetic polymorphism, CG heterozygotes of CCL5-28 (AOR = 2.35; 95% CI = 1.27-4.33, p = 0.006), AA homozygotes of CCL5-403 (AOR = 5.18; 95% CI = 2.25-11.91, p = 0.0001), and AA homozygotes of CCR5 (AOR = 2.47; 95% CI = 1.24-4.90, p = 0.009), was found compared with wild genotype after adjusting for other confounders. It was detected that synergistic effect between gene-to-gene polymorphisms increased the risk to have HCC among individuals with CG or GG of CCL5-28, and GA or AA of CCL-403, and GA or AA of CCR5 (AOR = 3.42; 95% CI = 1.39-8.38, p = 0.007) compared to individuals with wild genotypes of CCL5-28, CCL-403, and CCR5. Also, alcohol or tobacco consumption increased the risk to have HCC among subjects with CG heterozygotes of CCL5-28 (alcohol: p = 0.001; tobacco: p = 0.006), AA homozygotes (alcohol: p = 0.0004; tobacco: p ≤ 0.0001) or GA heterozygotes (tobacco: p = 0.03) of CCL5-403, and AA homozygotes of CCR5 (alcohol: p = 0.02; tobacco: p = 0.02), respectively. Gene polymorphisms of CCL5-28, CCL5-403, and CCR5 play an important factor for the susceptibility of HCC, respectively. The synergic effects of these two gene polymorphisms to tobacco or alcohol consumption significantly increase the risk to develop HCC.