IL28B polymorphisms do not predict response to therapy in chronic hepatitis C with HCV genotype 5

摘要

We read with interest the paper by Hayes et al on the impact of genetic polymorphisms near ILZ8B in predicting treatment response in chronic hepatitis C patients infected with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 (HCV-1). These results confirm the large, existing evidence in support of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near ILZ8B being the most powerful predictors of virological response in patients infected with all major HCV genotypes, that is, 1-4. No data is available for HCV-5, a rare genotype neglected in clinical trials. We report ILZ8B SNP frequency and its impact on treatment outcome in 49 patients of homogeneous Caucasian ancestry, all from Syria, infected with HCV-5. Treatment included 180 mug of pegylated interferon alpha2a (IFN-a2a) or 1.5 jig/kg of pegylated IFN-alpha2b weekly plus 1000-1200 mg of ribavirin/day (n=43) or IFN-alpha2a, 3 million units three times weekly plus 1000-1200 mg of ribavirin/day (n=6). Diagnostic assessments and outcome measures were according to international guidelines. Genomic DNA was obtained from peripheral blood mono-nuclear cells and SNPs near IL28B (markers rs8099917 and rs1Z979860) were genotyped by TaqMan (Applied Biosystems Inc, Foster City, California, USA), using the ABI 7500 Fast real-time thermocycler. Twenty-four patients were men, with a median age of 52 years. A liver biopsy was available in 27 patients: 67% had advanced liver fibrosis.