ABSTRACT
Background: Many factors contribute for viral clearance and response to antiviral therapy. Genetic polymorphisms of cytokines, chemokines, and their receptors can alter the immune response against Hepatitis C virus [HCV]
Aim of the study: The aim of the current study is to assess single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] in the promoter region of IL-10, TNF-alpha, IFN-y and TGF-p as predictors of response to combined Pegylated interferon ot/ribavirin [PEG-IFN/RBV] therapy in chronic HCV infected Egyptian patients
Patients and methods: The study was conducted on 150 HCV infected patients and 100 apparently healthy control subjects. All patients were treated with PEG-IFN/RBV. They were classified according to their icsponse to treatment
Genotyping of IL-10, TNF-alpha, IFN-y and TGF-p were performed on peripheral blood DNA using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism [PCR-RFLP] and primer specific assays
Results: Overall, 83/150 [55.3%] patients achieved sustained virological response [SVR], whereas 67 [44.7%] did not. Age and BMI were significantly lower in patients who achieved SVR [P < 0.05]. IL-10 at site [-1082] GG genotype was associated with SVR where odds ratio was 1.98 with 95% confidence interval [1.34-3.65]
None of the other genes showed a significant association with SVR
Conclusion: Analysis of IL-10 SNP at promoter site [-1082] could be used as a pretreatment predictor of response to combined PEG-IFN/RBV treatment