Prevalence of IL28B Polymorphism in Hepatitis C Patients

Prevalence of IL28B Polymorphism in Hepatitis C Patients in Singapore and Its Effect on the Outcome of Hepatitis C Treatment

Response to peginterferon and ribavirin treatment in hepatitis C (HCV) depends on viral and host factors. Single nucleotide polypmorphisms (SNP) near to IL28B gene (especially at rs12979860 and rs8099917) are strongly associated with the response to treatment in HCV genotype 1 infection, less so in HCV genotype 2/3 infection. CC genotype in rs12979860 and TT genotype at rs8099917 are associated with good treatment outcome. Asian populations have high prevalence of CC genotype in other studies, which can explain relatively good response to peginterferon/ ribavirin in genotype 1 infection in Asians compared with Caucasians.

The prevalence of different genotypes of IL28B polymorphism in the local population will be studied. DNA will be extracted from the whole blood sample of hepatitis C patients with genotype 1, 2 and 3 infection. It will be amplified by real-time PCR and subsequently analysed for the genotypes of IL28B SNPs.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with positive HCV IgG (EIA or RIBA test) and positive HCV RNA test (RT-PCR)
• HCV genotypes 1, 2 or 3 (determined by Versant™ HCV genotype Assay LiPA 2.0)
• with or without HCV treatment (peginterferon/ ribavirin).

Exclusion Criteria:

-Patients with acute hepatitis C infection.