The prediction of interferon-alpha therapeutic effect by sequence variation of the HCV hypervariable region 1.
Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) has been used to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV)-induced hepatitis, but it has been effective in only about half of the treated patients, with recurrence appearing in the other half. As a consequence of the possible complications associated with IFN-alpha and the high cost of treatment, it has become extremely important to select the proper patients for IFN-alpha treatment. In our previous study, we found that the quasispecies in the hypervariable region (HVR) 1 of HCV were various and that a new quasispecies can appear in non-responders and/or lead to deterioration in the patients' condition. The preliminary data we obtained in the process of our previous research led us to believe that the quasispecies of HVR 1 has something to do with the effect of IFN-alpha. Thus, in this investigation, we tried to determine the predictive factors of IFN-alpha therapy. Thirty patients with HCV infection were treated with IFN-alpha. Among them, 15 patients recovered after six months IFN-alpha treatment, but the remaining 15 patients showed no response after six months IFN-alpha treatment. We cloned HVR 1 DNA by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and examined the quasispecies of HVR 1. As the quasispecies of HVR 1 in non-responders varied more than in the complete remission group, we concluded that the sequence variation in HVR 1 of HCV can be used to predict the effect of IFN-alpha.
Yeh
B I
BI
Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Basic Medical Science, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Korea.
Kim
H W
HW
Kim
H S
HS
Lee
J Y
JY
Lee
K H
KH
Lee
K M
KM
Kim
J S
JS
Han
K H
KH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
D016898:Interferon-alpha; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins