Genetic variant of IL28B rs12979860, as predictive marker of interferon-based therapy in Pakistani population.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes and genetic variants of interleukin 28B (IL28B) are significantly associated with interferon plus ribavirin treatment of HCV infection. We investigated the distribution of HCV genotypes and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of IL28B (rs12979860 and rs8099917) in Pakistani population. IL28B genotyping was performed by allele-specific PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism PCR in 140 chronic hepatitis C patients (CHC) and 120 healthy controls. HCV genotype 3 (HCVG3) was the most prevalent genotype, 71.4% (n = 100/140) and with the highest treatment response of 90% (n = 90/100). The overall treatment response of all the HCV genotypes was 82% (n = 115/140). The distribution of IL28B rs12979860CC genotype in treatment responder and non-responder groups was 40.8% (n = 47/115) and 16% (n = 4/25) respectively. IL28B rs12979860CC genotype demonstrated a significant correlation (p = 0.019) with interferon-based therapy of HCV infection. However, there was no observed association of IL28B rs8099917 polymorphism with treatment response in CHC patients (p = 0.264). In conclusion, HCV genotypes and IL28B rs12979860 are predictive markers for the efficiency of interferon plus ribavirin combinational therapy of HCV infection. We recommend the inclusion of testing for these markers in the clinical criteria for decision making for HCV therapy in Pakistani population.