title: IL28B polymorphism, blood interferon-alpha concentration, and disease stage of HCV mono-infected and HCV-HIV co-infected patients.
abstract: Interferon (IFN) preactivation, interleukin-28B (IL28B) alleles, and liver fibrosis act as predictors of response to antiviral therapy against hepatitis C. We aimed to verify if blood IFN concentration, a putative biomarker of interferon preactivation, might depend on carriage of a given IL28B genotype and/or advanced hepatic fibrosis. The study population included 187 hepatitis C patients (75 of whom were HIV coinfected), who were genotyped for the rs12979860 polymorphism and staged non-invasively by transient elastography. Blood IFN, measured by an enzyme immunoassay, was detectable in 68/187 patients (36%). Seventy-three patients (39%) were C/C homozygotes, 25 (13%) were T/T homozygotes, and 89 (48%) were heterozygotes. The fibrosis stage was F0-F1 in 70 patients (37%), F2-F3 in 54 patients (29%), and F4 in 63 patients (34%). IFN levels were higher among patients with HIV coinfection (p=0.044) and patients with better renal function (p=0.041), without association with the IL28B genotype or the hepatitis C stage. From the multivariate analysis, the only independent predictor of higher level of IFN was the age of patients (p=0.019), whereas independent predictors of a fibrosis stage ≥ F2 were age (p=0.007), belonging to the HIV/HCV group (p=0.048) and current alcohol consumption (p=0.008). In conclusion, a sizable proportion of HCV carriers have detectable IFN levels that do not indicate a greater severity of disease or display any relationships to specific rs12979860 variants.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Translazionale, Universita del Piemonte Orientale "A.Avogadro", Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Michela E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Burlone
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cerutti
authors.forename: Rosalba
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Minisini
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smirne
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boccato
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ceriani
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bargiacchi
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bocchetta
authors.forename: Giuseppa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Occhino
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirisi
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D060085:Coinfection; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000378:metabolism*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000097:blood*; D007372:Interferons; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000095022:Interferon Lambda
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D007372:Interferons; D007378:Interleukins; C000624353:interferon-lambda, human; D000095022:Interferon Lambda