Background: PEGylated interferon (PEG-IFN) in combination with ribavirin is the gold standard for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). The majority of patients received PEG-IFN/ribavirin achieve a sustained viral response (SVR), but few cases failed to respond. It was evident that host genetic factors determine the treatment-induced viral clearance as well as spontaneous response. In the current study, the rs12979860 polymorphism of IL28β gene was analyzed and its association with the virological response to PEG-IFN treatment was determined.
Methods: One hundred and fifty Egyptian patients with HCV genotype 4 treated with PEG-IFN/ribavirin were assessed at 12 and 24 weeks of therapy, the rs12979860 genotype was determined using TaqMan-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
Results: Although the CC genotype was the most frequent (58%), the higher SVR was achieved for patients with favorable CC genotype (93%) in contrast to CT and TT genotypes.
Conclusion: we conclude that IL28B polymorphism is highly associated with SVR to therapy in the Egyptian population infected with HCV genotype 4 and patients who carry CC genotype have a higher chance of SVR.
Keywords: IL28β gene polymorphism; PEGylated interferon/ribavirin; rs12979860; sustained virological response.
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