Several lines of evidence suggest that MUC5AC genetic polymorphisms might confer susceptibility to H. pylori infection and therefore gastric cancer risk. We here assessed the association of common polymorphisms in the MUC5AC gene with H. pylori seroprevalence using an LD-based tagSNP approach in a north-western Chinese Han population. A total of 12 tagSNPs were successfully genotyped among 281 unrelated ethnic Han Chinese who had no cancer history, and no identifiable gastric disease or genetic disease. No significant association between any alleles, genotypes or haplotypes and H. pylori seroprevalence was observed. Our results suggest that common genetic variations in MUC5AC gene might not make a major contribution to the risk of H. pylori infection.
