title: Hepatitis C virus pharmacogenomics in Latin American populations: implications in the era of direct-acting antivirals.
abstract: In recent years, great progress has been made in the field of new therapeutic options for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The new direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) represent a great hope for millions of chronically infected individuals because their use may lead to excellent cure rates with fewer side effects. In Latin America, the high prevalence of HCV genotype 1 infection and the significant association of Native American ancestry with risk predictive single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) inIFNL4andITPAgenes highlight the need to implement new treatment regimens in these populations. However, the universal accessibility to DAAs is still not a reality in the region as their high cost is one of the major, although not the only, limiting factors for their broad implementation. Therefore, under these circumstances, could the assessment of host genetic markers be a useful tool to prioritize DAA treatment until global access to these new drugs can be achieved? This review will summarize the scientific evidences and the potential implications of HCV pharmacogenomics in this rapidly evolving era of anti-HCV drug development.
authors.affiliation: Basic Science and Experimental Medicine Institute (ICBME), University Institute of the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires; Scientific and Technological National Research Council (CONICET).
authors.forename: Julieta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trinks
authors.affiliation: Scientific and Technological National Research Council (CONICET); Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica.
authors.forename: Mariela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caputo
authors.affiliation: Basic Science and Experimental Medicine Institute (ICBME), University Institute of the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires.
authors.forename: María L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hulaniuk
authors.affiliation: Scientific and Technological National Research Council (CONICET); Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Corach
authors.affiliation: Scientific and Technological National Research Council (CONICET); Cátedra de Virología, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Flichman
keywords: DAAs; Latin America; PEG-IFN/RBV; hepatitis C virus; pharmacogenomics