Virology Journal (Jun 2012)

Prediction of response to pegylated-interferon-α and ribavirin therapy in Chinese patients infected with different hepatitis C virus genotype

  • Guo Xiaoyan,
  • Zhao Zhixin,
  • Xie Junqiang,
  • Cai Qingxian,
  • Zhang Xiaohong,
  • Peng Liang,
  • Gao Zhiliang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-9-123
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
p. 123

Abstract

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Abstract Background The standard treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), pegylated interferon-α (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) does not provide a sustained virological response (SVR) in all patients. Genetic variations at the interleukin 28B (IL-28B) locus are important in predicting outcome following therapy in CHC patients. Results We investigated the role of IL28B variations (rs8099917) in response to PEG-IFN-α/RBV treatment and evaluated its association with the risk of the null virological response (NVR) and relapse (REL) in different viral genotypes. We found that the overall distributions of the genotype among the SVR, NVR, and REL groups were significantly different (P Conclusion This study suggests that host genetic polymorphisms rs8099917 in the vicinity of IL-28B is the most important predictor of treatment response of PEG-IFN-α/RBV for HCV patients in China.

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