Assessment of interleukin 28B genotype as a predictor of response to combined therapy with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin in HCV infected Egyptian patients

Background and aim: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of interleukin 28B (IL28B) gene is associated with spontaneous clearance and variable response to combined therapy with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients. This study aimed at assessing the value of IL28B rs8099917 gene polymorphism in predicting sustained virological response (SVR) among HCV infected Egyptian patients treated with PEG-IFN and RBV. Methods: Our study was conducted on 153 chronic HCV infected patients treated with PEG-IFN and RBV. Genotyping of rs8099917 near the IL-28B gene was performed by Real Time PCR using Taq-Man probe assay. Results: The overall SVR was achieved in 49.6% of patients. Patients with TT genotype showed significantly higher SVR rate than minor allele (TG/GG) carriers (74% vs. 26%, P = 0.004). Logistic regression analysis revealed that IT carriers had 2.8 higher chance for SVR achievement than G allele carriers TG/GG (OR = 2.8,95% CI = 1.4-5.6, P = 0.004). Younger age, male sex and low activity grading were significant predictors of SVR (P = 0.003, P = <0.001 and P <0.001 respectively). High pretreatment AST levels and advanced liver fibrosis were negative predictors of SVR (P = 0.04 and P < 0.001 respectively). Conclusion: IL28B genotype is a significant pre-treatment predictor of response to PEG-IFN/RBV in HCV infected Egyptian patients. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.