Background and Aims: A single nucleotide polymorphism near the interleukin-28B (IL28B) gene has been shown to predict hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment response. We aim to determine the role of the IL28B genotype in Asian patients. Methods: A total of 118 patients (all Korean, 55 patients with genotype 1 infection and 63 patients with genotype 2 infection) were consecutively enrolled and analyzed. Results: The sustained virological response (SVR) rate was 74% (87/118), while 26 patients (22%) relapsed and five patients were non-responders (4%). For rs8099917, the frequencies of major homozygotes (TT), heterozygotes (GT), and minor homozygotes (GG) were 0.85, 0.14 and 0.01, respectively. Of the 55 patients with HCV genotype 1 infection, the SVR rate was 67% and 44% (P=0.19) and the non-response rate was 2% and 22% (P=0.015) for the major allele and minor or hetero allele, respectively. Of the 63 patients with HCV genotype 2 infection, the SVR rate was 80% and 100% (P=0.13) and the non-response rate was 4% and 0% (P=0.55) for major allele and hetero allele, respectively. Conclusions: The IL28B genotype may help identify non-responding patients in HCV genotype 1, but not in HCV genotype 2. Because of the high frequency of favorable alleles and the low frequency of non-response, the IL28B polymorphism may play a smaller role in Asian patients. © 2011 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.
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Sinn, D. H., Kim, Y. J., Lee, S. T., Gwak, G. Y., Choi, M. S., Lee, J. H., … Paik, S. W. (2011). Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism near the interleukin-28B gene with response to hepatitis C therapy in Asian patients. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Australia), 26(9), 1374–1379. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1746.2011.06744.x