@Article{Mach2012,
journal="Gastroenterology Review/Przegląd Gastroenterologiczny",
issn="1895-5770",
volume="7",
number="1",
year="2012",
title="The importance of IL28B polymorphism in response to pegylated interferon α and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis caused by HCV genotype 1b",
abstract="  Introduction  : Treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) with peginterferon α (Peg-IFN) and ribavirin leads to a sustained virological response (SVR) in 50% of patients and depends on HCV and host factors. Polymorphism of the   IL28B   gene is associated with eradication of HCV and SVR.     Aim:   The objective of this study was to examine patients from the region of southern Poland and determine whether CH-C therapy depends on the genetic variants of   IL28B   and whether this polymorphism may predict SVR.     Material and methods:   One hundred forty-two patients with CH-C and the genotype 1b HCV were treated with Peg-IFN and ribavirin for 48 weeks.   IL28B   rs12979860 polymorphisms (C/T) were tested by PCR-RFLP. The HCV-RNA and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were measured before treatment and after 12, 48 and 72 weeks.     Results  : Viral load before and after 12 weeks of therapy was higher in the genotypes T/C and T/T than in C/C. 71.1% of patients with the genotype C/C achieved SVR vs. 41.4% with the genotype T/C and 23.5% with T/T. Patients with the genotype C/C responded better to treatment as compared to subjects with the genotypes T/C and T/T, and achieved better early response (12 weeks), at the end of treatment (48 weeks) and SVR. Alanine aminotransferase activity was similar among the groups. Tolerance of therapy was similar and independent of the genotypes.     Conclusions:   The study confirmed the dependence of response to standard treatment of CH-C caused by the genotype 1b HCV on the patient's genetic predisposition. In contrast to some other reports, poor prognosis was observed in T/T homozygotes of   IL28B  .",
author="Mach, Tomasz
and Cieśla, Andrzej
and Sanak, Marek
and Głowacki, Mikołaj
and Warunek, Wioleta
and Owczarek, Danuta
and Ciećko-Michalska, Irena",
pages="38--42",
doi="10.5114/pg.2012.27221",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.5114/pg.2012.27221"
}