Genetic association between mannose-binding lectin polymorphisms and viral hepatitis: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Some previous genetic association studies tried to investigate potential associations between mannose-binding lectin (MBL) polymorphisms and viral hepatitis. However, the results of these studies were not consistent. Therefore, we performed the present meta-analysis to explore associations between MBL polymorphisms and viral hepatitis in a larger pooled population. METHODS: Systematic literature research of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and CNKI was performed to identify eligible studies for pooled analyses. We used Review Manager Version 5.3.3 to conduct statistical analyses. RESULTS: Totally 27 studies were included for analyses (4,840 cases and 5,729 controls). The pooled analyses showed that MBL promoter (-211C/G, dominant model: P = 0.0002, I2 = 40%; over-dominant model: P = 0.0001, I2 = 22%) and exon 1 (codon 52, 54 and 57, dominant model: P = 0.04, I2 = 49%; allele model: P = 0.01, I2 = 48%) polymorphisms were both significantly associated with viral hepatitis in overall population. Further subgroup analyses revealed similar significant findings for MBL promoter polymorphism in HBV and HCV, but no any positive results were detected in subgroup analyses for MBL exon 1 polymorphism. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that MBL promoter and exon 1 polymorphisms could be used to identify individuals at higher susceptibility to HBV and HCV.