Analysis of ineffective antiviral therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin in a patient with chronic hepatitis C infected with HCV genotype 2

Abstract

The paper describes a case of ineffective dual antiviral therapy (pegylated interferon and ribavirin) in a patient with chronic hepatitis C infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 2 according to the data from the use of a commercial test system. Analysis of the predictors of failure of antiviral therapy (AVT) (the HCV recombinant variant RF2k/1b, a high viral load before the start of therapy, an unfavorable IL-28B genotype, a high body mass index, and a need for a lower ribavirin dose after 12 weeks of AVT because of adverse reactions for less than 4 weeks) in this patient has shown that no virological response is mainly associated with the presence of the HCV recombinant variant, the treatment effectiveness of which is comparable with that in HCV genotype 1 and obesity. In this connection, when HCV genotype 2 is identified, sequencing the NS5B region of the HCV genome is additionally recommended to rule out the virus recombinant strain and, if it is detected, highly effective interferon-free therapy with direct-acting antivirals is indicated.

Keywords

• hcv recombinant variants
• rf2k/1b
• chronic hepatitis c
• antiviral therapy
• rf2k/1b