Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Dec;26(4):863-77.
doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2012.08.010.

IL28B polymorphisms as a pretreatment predictor of response to HCV treatment

Christoph T Berger  1 , Arthur Y Kim
Affiliations
Review

IL28B polymorphisms as a pretreatment predictor of response to HCV treatment

Christoph T Berger et al. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Genome-wide association studies have identified polymorphisms located near the gene encoding IL28B, which turned out to be the best predictor of response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection. This association was extended to spontaneous clearance of HCV, suggesting shared mechanisms of treatment and natural control of this virus. In addition to the biologic implications for innate immunity and HCV, a variety of clinical studies have suggested possible translation to a useful genetic test for practitioners. This article reviews the discovery, biology, and potential clinical applications that have stemmed from the seminal observation that IL28B polymorphisms are a main predictor of HCV clearance.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alter MJ. Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection. World J Gastroenterol. 2007;13(17):2436–2441. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ghany MG, Nelson DR, Strader DB, Thomas DL, Seeff LB. An update on treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus infection: 2011 practice guideline by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Hepatology. 2011;54(4):1433–1444. - PMC - PubMed
    1. McHutchison JG, Lawitz EJ, Shiffman ML, et al. Peginterferon alfa-2b or alfa-2a with ribavirin for treatment of hepatitis C infection. N Engl J Med. 2009;361(6):580–593. - PubMed
    1. Ge D, Fellay J, Thompson AJ, et al. Genetic variation in IL28B predicts hepatitis C treatment-induced viral clearance. Nature. 2009;461(7262):399–401. - PubMed
    1. Rauch A, Kutalik Z, Descombes P, et al. Genetic variation in IL28B is associated with chronic hepatitis C and treatment failure: a genome-wide association study. Gastroenterology. 2010;138(4):1338–1345. 1345 e1–7. - PubMed