Lack of Association between IFNL4 SNP and Response to PEG-Interferon in Chronic Hepatitis B Cases

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide (Gao et al., 2012). Pegylated interferon alfa (PEG-IFN), which has an immunomodulatory and antiviral effects, is one of the approved agents for treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) (Hoofnagle et al., 2007). The long-term therapeutic effect of PEG-IFN is durable and patients who achieve treatment response have a reduced risk of cirrhosis and HCC (Sung et al., 2008). However, the overall sustained response rate to PEG-IFN can be achieved in approximately 30-40% of patients with HBeAg-positive CHB and 20-30% of patients with HBeAg-negative CHB (Hoofnagle et al., 2007). In addition, PEG-IFN treatment is expensive and has potential side effects. Thus, selection of patients with a high probability of treatment response to PEG-IFN is important. The outcome of therapy in patients with CHB is likely related to multiple factors, including viral factors and