IMPLICATIONS OF IL28-B GENE SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS IN PHARMACOLOGIC TREATMENT OF HCV+ PATIENTS: AN ITALIAN STUDY

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects more than 175 million people worldwide, being one of the most common transmitted diseases. In the last years, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) upstream IL28-B gene have been related to treatment-induced clearance of HCV infection caused by genotype 1 HCV. The rs12979860 and rs8099917 SNPs are implicated in long term sustained virological response (SRV) rate after treatment with pegilated interferon-alpha (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin. A population of 100 HCV+ Caucasian subjects has been screened for rs12979860 and rs8099917 SNPs. SNPs detection has been performed by means of a Real-Time PCR commercial kit. Only 19.8% of patients shows the IL28-B wildtype genotype (rs12979860CC/rs8099917TT), while the 1.2% carries both SNPs in homozygous status (rs12979860TT/rs8099917GG genotype). A total of 24.7% has a heterozygous genotype, showing one IL28-B SNP (18.6% rs12979860CT/rs8099917TT genotype, 6.1% rs12979860TT/rs8099917TG genotype). The most interesting data concerns 54.3% of individuals carrying both SNPs in heterozygous status (rs12979860CT/rs8099917TG genotype); this percentage is higher than expected in Caucasian population. The study also evaluated in a retrospective way patient’s treatment response in correlation with IL28-B genotype and clinical disease stage.