Evaluation of integrin beta 5 (ITBG5) haplotypes as genetic risk factors for advanced liver fibrosis in a large Fibroscan-staged cohort

Introduction: A recent genome wide association scan (GWAS) identified specific ITGB5 variants as potential risk factors for advanced fibrosis in a small cohort of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (Lempicki et al. AASLD 2009;1385A). Our aim now was to validate this finding in larger cohort of HCV patients and to test whether the association is also present in patients with other chronic liver diseases. Patients and methods: Overall, 882 patients of Caucasian descent were included in the study. The majority of patients tested positive for HCV (N=520). Liver stiffness was determined in all pa…