Role of NFKBIA and PTPN22 Genes Polymorphism in Acute Rejection Susceptibility After Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Egyptian Patients.

Liver transplantation is considered an effective therapy for severe liver disease, but graft dysfunction occurs in up to 13% of patients during the first year following transplantation, and rises to 35% after 5 years (Keeffe, 1999; Yu et al., 2001). Graft rejection is one of the major immunological complications following liver transplantation (Zheng et al., 2006).

The nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer B-cells inhibitor-alpha (NFKBIA) gene encodes a member of the nuclear factor-kappa-B inhibitor family. Polymorphisms in this gene might be associated with a susceptibility to acute rejection episodes following liver transplantation, as they may cause an increased activation level of the proinflammatory transcription factor nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells (NFκB).

NFκB translocates to the nucleus and promotes the expression of a panel of genes (Karin and Ben-Neriah, 2000). Some of these, for example interleukin-2, interleukin-6, interleukin-12 or tumor necrosis factor-alpha, play an important role in the pathogenesis of allograft rejection and the activation of the immune system in general (Wei and Zheng, 2003).

The protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor 22 gene (PTPN22) encodes a strong T-cell regulator called lymphoid protein tyrosine phosphatase. Previously, PTPN22 was described as a susceptibility gene for autoimmunity because it contains single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with several autoimmune diseases. One SNP (rs2476601;1858G>A) has emerged as a particularly potent risk factor for autoimmunity. We address the question whether PTPN22 polymorphismsare also associated with acute rejection after liver transplantation. (Dullin et al., 2015).