title: Interferon lambda 4 (IFNL4) gene polymorphism is associated with spontaneous clearance of HCV in HIV-1 positive patients.
abstract: Approximately one-third of the individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) are co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Co-infected patients have an increased risk for developing end-stage liver diseases. Variants upstream of the IFNL3 gene have been associated with spontaneous and treatment-induced clearance of HCV infection. Recently, a novel polymorphism was discovered, denoted IFNL4 ΔG > TT (rs368234815), which seems to be a better predictor of spontaneous clearance than the IFNL4 rs12979860 polymorphism. We aimed to determine the prevalence of the IFNL4 ΔG > TT variants and to evaluate the association with spontaneous clearance of HCV infection in Brazilian HIV-1 patients. The IFNL4 ΔG > TT genotypes were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction digestion in 138 HIV-1 positive patients who had an anti-HCV positive result. Spontaneous clearance of HCV was observed in 34 individuals (24.6%). IFNL4 genotype distribution was significantly different between individuals who had spontaneous clearance and chronic HCV patients (p=0.002). The probability of spontaneous clearance of HCV infection for patients with the IFNL4 TT/TT genotype was 3.6 times higher than for patients carrying the IFNL4 ΔG allele (OR=3.63, 95% CI:1.51-8.89, p=0.001). The IFNL4 ΔG > TT polymorphism seems to be better than IFNL4 rs12979860 to predict spontaneous clearance of the HCV in Brazilian HIV-1 positive patients.
authors: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular Aplicada à Saúde, Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA), Canoas, RS, Brazil.
authors: Camila Fernanda da Silveira
authors: CF
authors: Alves
authors: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular Aplicada à Saúde, Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA), Canoas, RS, Brazil.
authors: Camila Schultz
authors: CS
authors: Grott
authors: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular Aplicada à Saúde, Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA), Canoas, RS, Brazil.
authors: Vagner Ricardo
authors: VR
authors: Lunge
authors: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde Coletiva, ULBRA, Canoas, RS, Brazil.|Curso de Medicina, ULBRA, Canoas, RS, Brazil.
authors: Jorge Umberto
authors: JU
authors: Béria
authors: Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors: Daniela Cardoso
authors: DC
authors: Tietzmann
authors: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde Coletiva, ULBRA, Canoas, RS, Brazil.|Curso de Medicina, ULBRA, Canoas, RS, Brazil.|Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors: Airton Tetelbom
authors: AT
authors: Stein
authors: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular Aplicada à Saúde, Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA), Canoas, RS, Brazil.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Simon