Author/Authors :
El-Awady, Mostafa K. National Research Center - Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Egypt , Mostafa, Lotiaf Ahmed Maher Educational Hospital, Egypt , Tabll, Ashraf A. National Research Center - Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Egypt , Abdelhafez, Tawfeek H. National Research Center - Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Egypt , El Din, Noha G Bader National Research Center - Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Egypt , Zayed, Naglaa Cairo University - Department of Tropical Medicine and Hepatology Kasr El Aini, Egypt , El Shenawy, Reem National Research Cente - Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Egypt , El Abd, Yasmin National Research Center - Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Egypt , Hasan, Reham M. National Research Center - Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Egypt , Zaghlol, Hosam Mansoura University - Faculty of Medicine, Egypt , El Khayat, Hesham Theodor Bilharz Research Institut, Egypt , Abdel Aziz, Ashraf O. Cairo University - Department of Tropical Medicine and Hepatology Kasr El Aini, Egypt
Abstract :
Background: IL28B single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) play important roles in the management of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and are strongly associated with spontaneous and treatment-induced HCV clearance. Objectives: In the present study, the association between IL28B variants and the progres- sion of HCV infection in Egyptian patients infected with type 4a virus will be examined. Patients and Methods: Frequencies of the protective genotype C/C of SNP, rs12979860 were determined in healthy subjects, spontaneous resolvers, and chronic HCV type 4 patients with low F scores and in patients with end stage liver disease (ESLD). This study included a total of 404 subjects. Patients infected with HCV type 4a (n = 304) were divided into; chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with low F scores (CHC, n = 110), end stage liver disease (n = 110), liver cirrhosis (LC) (n = 35) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients (n = 75), spontaneous resolvers of HCV infection (n = 84) were also included. A healthy group representing the Egyptian population (n = 100) was also included in the genotyping of IL28B. The later was typed via a polymerase chain reaction based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay analysis on purified genomic DNA extracted from all individuals. Results: A significant increase (P 0.0005) was observed in frequencies of IL-28B rs12979860 C/C genotypes in the healthy population, than in the CHC, LC and HCC groups (C/C = 48%, 13%, 0%.and 0% respectively). On the other hand the C/C genotype was signifi- cantly higher (P 0.0005) in spontaneous resolvers than in healthy subjects. A comparable significant increase in the frequency of C/T allele accompanied by mild elevation of T/T allele frequency, were detected along the progression towards ESLD. Conclusions: Genotype C/C is associated with viral clearance during acute infection. The sharp decline in the C/C genotype from healthy to CHC subjects and the total absence of the C/C genotype in ESLD suggests a central role of this genotype against HCV disease progression.
