Approximately 3% of the world population is chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), with potential development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite the availability of new antiviral agents, treatment remains suboptimal. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified rs12979860, a polymorphism nearby IL28B, as an important predictor of HCV clearance. We report the...

We describe the genotypes and allele distribution of interleukin 28B (IL28B) rs12979860 and rs8099917 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in hepatitis C virus (HCV) G1-4 infected patients, to assess predictive ability and to determine whether the combined determination of two IL28B SNPs might improve sustained virologic response (SVR) prediction of both in HCV mono- and HIV/HCV co-infected p...

Previous studies have suggested that host genetic polymorphisms may affect virological response to pegylated-interferon and ribavirin (PEG-IFN/ ribavirin) therapy in chronic HCV infection. IL28B and MxA are the most intensively studied genes in Chinese Han population. The current research is to summarize published data and evaluate the overall association of meaningful SNPs in these two genes w...

BACKGROUND AND AIM Multiple risk factors lead to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) including viral infections, mutation and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Interleukin 28B (IL28B) gene rs12979860 polymorphism has been shown to be associated with HCC in the different populations, but its association with HCC has not been investigated in the Turkish population. We investigated whether the rs...

It has been reported that inosine triphosphatase (ITPA) gene variants protect against ribavirin-induced anemia in patients treated for chronic hepatitis C. IL28B variants also influence the treatment response of peginterferon plus ribavirin treatment in these patients. In the present study, we examined how ITPA and IL28B genotypes have clinical impacts on treatment-induced hematotoxicities and ...

BACKGROUND IL28B and ITPA genetic variants are associated with the outcome of pegylated-interferon and ribavirin (PEG-IFN/RBV) therapy. However, the significance of these genetic variants in cirrhotic patients following splenectomy has not been determined. METHODS Thirty-seven patients with HCV-induced cirrhosis who underwent laparoscopic splenectomy (Spx group) and 90 who did not (non-Spx gr...

Spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) occurs in ~30% of acute infections. Host genetics play a major role in HCV clearance, with a strong effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the IL28B gene already found in different populations, mostly infected with viral genotypes 1 and 3. Egypt has the highest prevalence of HCV infection in the world, which is mostly due to viral ge...

In a recent genome-wide association study, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located near the interleukin-28B gene (IL28B), which encodes type III interferon (IFN) λ3, were shown to be strongly associated with a viral response to pegylated IFNα (PEG-IFNα) and ribavirin (RBV) combination therapy and spontaneous viral clearance in patients chronically and acutely infected with hepatitis C vi...

BACKGROUND A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) upstream of the IL28B gene (rs12979860) predicts sustained virological response (SVR) to peginterferon-ribavirin therapy in chronic hepatitis C patients. There is scarce information regarding the influence of this IL28B SNP on early viral kinetics during therapy, particularly in patients coinfected with HIV, in whom treatment response is lower t...

INTRODUCTION Polymorphisms near the IL28B gene (e.g. rs12979860) encoding interferon λ3 have recently been associated with both spontaneous clearance and treatment response to pegIFN/RBV in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. The molecular consequences of this genetic variation are unknown. To gain further insight into IL28B function we assessed the association of rs12979860 with expression of ...