Impact of Interferon Lambda Gene Polymorphism on Treatment of HCV-4 Infection in Diabetic Patients

Abstract

Background & Aim: IL28B polymorphisms are strongly associated with response to treatment for HCV infection. IL28B acts on interferon-stimulated genes via the JAK-STAT pathway, which has been implicated in development of insulin resistance. This study aimed to evaluate the Impact of interferon lambda gene polymorphism on treatment of HCV-4 infection in diabetic patients. Methods: Occurrence of variants at three IL28B-Related Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (rs12979860, rs12980275, and rs8099917) was correlated with virologic response to combined treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin among 104 HCV -4 infected Egyptian patients (41 diabetic vs. 63 non-diabetic patients). Results: IL28B-Related Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms had significant impact on virologic responses to combined treatment among non-diabetic patients; CC subtype of rs12979860 and AA subtype of rs12980275 had the highest rapid virologic response rates (p=0.02 and 0.04 respectively). Early virologic response rates were significantly higher among non-diabetic patients with CC subtype of rs12979860 (p=0.005), AA subtype of rs12980275 (p=0.04) and TT subtype of rs8099917 (p=0.01).Significant higher percentage of sustained virologic response rates was found among non-diabetic patients with CC subtype of rs12979860 (p = 0.003) and AA subtype of rs12980275 (p = 0.004). Strikingly, all the subtypes of the three IL28B-Related Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (rs12979860, rs12980275, and rs8099917) had no impact on virologic responses to combined treatment among diabetic patients. Conclusions: Non-diabetic patients with chronic hepatitis C-4 infection are more likely to benefit from the assessment of IL28B-related SNPs (rs12979860, rs12980275, rs8099917) in the prediction of virologic response to combined treatment than diabetic patients. Keywords: DM, SVR, HCV-4, IL28B, rs12979860, rs12980275, rs8099917. Read more →