No association between the IL28B SNP and response to peginterferon plus ribavirin combination treatment in Korean chronic hepatitis C patients

Abstract

Background/AimsThere are few available data regarding the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the gene encoding interleukin 28B (IL28B) and a sustained virologic response (SVR) to peginterferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) therapy in Korean chronic hepatitis C patients.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of 156 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who received combination treatment of PEG-IFN plus RBV. Blood samples from these patients were analyzed to identify the IL28B SNPs at rs12979860, rs12980275, rs8099917, and rs8103142. Association analyses were performed to evaluate the relationships between each IL28B SNP and SVRs.ResultsSeventy six patients with HCV genotype 1 and 80 with genotype non-1 were enrolled. The frequencies of rs12979860 CC and CT genotypes were 90.4% and 9.6%, respectively; those of rs12980275 AA and AG genotypes were 87.2% and 12.8%, respectively; those of rs8099917 TT and TG genotypes were 92.3% and 7.7%, respectively; and those of rs8103142 TT and CT genotypes were 90.4% and 9.6%, respectively. Among the patients with HCV genotype 1, the SVR rates were 69.7% and 80.0% for rs12979860 CC and CT, respectively (P=0.71). Among the HCV genotype non-1 patients, SVR rates were 88.0% and 100% for rs12979860 CC and CT (P=1.00), respectively.ConclusionsGenotypes of the IL28B SNP that are known to be favorable were present in most of the Korean patients with chronic hepatitis C in this study. Moreover, the IL28B SNP did not influence the SVR rate in either the HCV genotype 1 or non-1 patients. Therefore, IL28B SNP analysis might be not useful for the initial assessment, prediction of treatment outcomes, or treatment decision-making of Korean chronic hepatitis C patients.

IL28B gene polymorphism rs12979860, but not rs8099917, contributes to the occurrence of chronic HCV infection in Uruguayan patients

“…The small number of patients corresponding to each group (SVR or NR/R) might explain why we were not able to confirm the association between IL28B genotypes and response to therapy. Despite Heo et al (2014) [ 47 ] also reported no association even when including a larger number of patients ( n = 156), the ethnic disparities between Uruguayan and Korean populations does not allow us to confirm our findings. A limitation of our analyses, however, is that due to the limited number of patients, association studies were performed without taking into account the viral genotype.…”

Immunological dynamics associated with rapid virological response during the early phase of type I interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C

“…As shown in the previous reports [34,35], most Korean patients have favorable SNPs in the IFN-λ loci (i.e., CC genotype in rs12979860 and TT in rs8099917 ). In addition, all Korean patients examined in this study possess a recently identified rs368234815 ‑TT/TT allele, which does not generate IFN-λ4 because of a premature stop codon and is associated with better virological response to IFN/RBV therapy [36].…”

“…SNPs in the IFN-λ loci are associated with spontaneous viral clearance and SVR following IFN/RBV therapy, and the ethnicity-dependent distribution of HCV genotypes partially explains the differences in virological responsiveness [ 22 ]. As shown in the previous reports [ 34 , 35 ], most Korean patients have favorable SNPs in the IFN-λ loci (i.e., CC genotype in rs12979860 and TT in rs8099917 ). In addition, all Korean patients examined in this study possess a recently identified rs368234815 ‑TT/TT allele, which does not generate IFN-λ4 because of a premature stop codon and is associated with better virological response to IFN/RBV therapy [ 36 ].…”

IL28B rs12980275 variant as a predictor of sustained virologic response to pegylated-interferon and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Finally, 16 articles (19 studies) that investigated the association between rs12980275 AA genotype and SVR of HCV patients with PEG-IFN plus RBV treatment meet the criterion, and they were included in this meta-analysis [11,13,14,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] (Fig. 1).…”