Background: There have been reports showing the protective role of inducible Heat-shock protein (HSP) 70 in gastric epithelial cells. HSP70-2 gene is located in the class-III region of the MHC on the short arm of chromosome 6. The HSP70-2 gene has a pst1 site due to an A to G transition at the 1267 position and different genotypes of the HSP70-2 gene have been shown to be associated with a different level of HSP70 mRNA expression. This study was performed to investigate relations between polymorphism of the HSP70-2 gene and risk of peptic ulcer diseases.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive analytical study, the studied population comprised 100 subjects, attending the Endoscopy Center of Hafez Hospital in Shiraz on 2012. All subjects underwent upper gastroscopy. Genomic DNA was extracted from bioptic tissues. Genotypes were determined in patients and controls using PCR-RFLP.

Results: In the non-ulcer subjects, the HSP70-2 genotype distribution was 20 AA (40%), 26 AG (52%), and 4 GG (8%). Meanwhile, the HSP70-2 genotype distribution in peptic ulcer patients were 5 AA (10%), 44 AG (88%) and 1 GG (2%). The results showed that 1267G/A HSP70-2 Gene polymorphism is associated with peptic ulcer.

Conclusion: It appears that polymorphism of HSP70-2 gene is associated with the susceptibility to peptic ulcer diseases. The analysis showed that the AG genotype increased the risk of peptic ulcer (OR=6.76, 95%CI=2.26-20.20, p=0.0006).