Association Of Interleukin-28B And Interferon-Lambda 4 Gene Polymorphisms With Response To Pegylated Interferon Plus Ribavirin Antiviral Treatment For Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

Objective:Interferon lambda 4(IFNL4) rs368234815, located in the upstream of IL-28 B rs12979860,is regulated by the functional dinucleotide variant(TT/ΔG). In order to fi nd the loci and genotype that can predict the antiviral treatment response and provi de the basis for doctors to treat the patients with chronic hepatitis C individually in our country. The genotype of IFNL4 rs368234815 and IL-28 B rs12979860 were de tected and the correlation of the two gene polymorphisms with the sustained virol ogical response of the chronic hepatitis C patients treated with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin were evaluated.Methods:The investigation includes 147 CHC patients who have underwent the whole anti viral treatment of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin and their genomic DNA from whole blood was extracted.The IL-28 B rs12979860 genotype was detected by ARM S-PCR while the IFNL4 rs 368234815 genotype was examined by direct sequencin g method.Using appropriate statistical methods analyzes the association of IL-28 B a nd IFNL 4 gene polymorphisms with response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin treatment for chronic hepatitis C patients.Results:(1)The average age of SVR group is less than N-SVR group(P= 0.009);(2)Patients infected with HCV genotype 2a have obtained higher rate of SVR th an HCV genotype 1b [HCV 2a:92.86%(26/28), HCV 1b: 72.27%(86/119), P = 0.021];(3)The higher rates of SVR were observed with IL-28 B genotype CC[CC: 83.93%(94/112),CT:51.43%(18/35),P=0.000];(4)The higher rates of SVR were observed with IFNL4 genotype TT/TT[TT/TT:79.53%(101/127),TT/ΔG:55%(11/20),P=0.035];(5)Statistically higher rate of SVR was revealed with the combination of IL-28 B genotype CC and IFNL4 genotype TT/TT(80.32% VS 35.71%,P<0.05);(6)The sex, body mass index, and viral load before baseline were no statistically significant difference between two groups(P>0.05);(7)Analysis showed that age of patients(OR:0.309,P=0.021),HCV genotypes(OR:7.768, P = 7.768) and IL- 28 B rs12979860 genotype(OR: 0.175, P = 0.175) are independent predictors of SVR with pegylated interferon plus RBV treatment accor ding to the Binary Logistic.Conclusion:1.HCV genotypes,age, IL-28 B gene polymorphism and IFNL4 gene polymorphism are related with response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin treatment for CHC patients.The following situations can acquire a higher rate of SVR:HCV 2a,less than 40 years old and IL-28 B CC genotype;2.HCV genotype, age and IL- 28 B genotype are independent predictors of virol ogical response after antiviral therapy;3.While IFNL4 gene polymorphism is related with the response,it is not an inde pendent predictor.