Aim: To analyze the association of three IL28B single nucleotide polymorphisms with response to therapy in Chilean patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV).
Methods: We studied two groups of patients with chronic HCV infection (genotype 1), under standard combined treatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin. One group consisted of 50 patients with sustained virological response, whereas the second group consisted of 49 null responders. In order to analyze the IL28B single nucleotide polymorphisms rs12979860, rs12980275 and rs8099917, samples were used for polymerase chain reaction amplification, and the genotyping was performed by restriction fragment length polymorphism.
Results: The IL28B rs12979860 CC, rs12980275 AA and rs8099917 TT genotypes were much more frequently found in patients with sustained virological response compared to null responders (38%, 44% and 50% vs 2%, 8.2% and 8.2%, respectively). These differences were highly significant in all three cases (P < 0.0001).
Conclusion: The three IL28B polymorphisms studied are strongly associated with sustained virological response to therapy in Chilean patients with chronic HCV (genotype 1).
Keywords: Chile; Hepatitis C virus; IL28B; Pegylated interferon; Ribavirin.