title: Association of Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Interleukin-28B Gene Polymorphism in Chinese Children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To preliminarily explore the association of rs12979860 and rs8099917 SNPs with chronic HCV infection in Chinese Han children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Chronic HCV infection patients (n=277; 1-17 years old, 4.5 years old in average) and healthy subjects (n=150, children; 2-17 years old, 5.2 years old in average) were recruited and tested by PCR combining direct sequencing. The differences between the rs12979860 and rs8099917 genotypes in patients and healthy subjects were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The genetic variations at rs12979860 and rs8099917 in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) children and healthy subjects did not differ significantly. The frequency of spontaneous clearance in CHC children was higher (47%), which is related to the genetic variations. The histological changes of patients were more significant compared to their clinical and biochemical indices, but they did not correlate with the genetic mutations at rs12979860 and rs8099917 significantly.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rs12979860 and rs8099917 SNPs are independent factors predicting the spontaneous clearance of Chinese CHC children patients. The correlation between diseases outcomes are in need of further study.
authors.affiliation: Rong-Rong Wu, Department of Pharmacy, Beijing 302 Hospital, Beijing China.
authors.forename: Rong-Rong
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Feng-Qun Liu, Department of Pharmacy, Beijing 302 Hospital, Beijing China.
authors.forename: Feng-Qun
authors.initials: FQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shi-Shu Zhu, Department of Pediatric Hepatology, Beijing 302 Hospital, Beijing China.
authors.forename: Shi-Shu
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Jin Han, Department of Pharmacy, Beijing 302 Hospital, Beijing China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
keywords: Hepatitis C virus; Interleukin-28B; Single nucleotide polymorphism