TY - JOUR AU - Vito Di Marco, AU - Fabrizio Bronte, AU - Vincenza Calvaruso, AU - Marcello Capra, AU - Zelia Borsellino, AU - Aurelio Maggio, AU - Maria Concetta Renda, AU - Lorella Pitrolo, AU - Maria Carmela Lo Pinto, AU - Michele Rizzo, AU - Flavia Fiorenza, AU - Calogera Gerardi, AU - Stefania Grimaudo, AU - Antonietta Di Cristina, AU - Massimo Levrero, AU - Antonio Craxì, PY - 2012/05/03 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - IL28B polymorphisms influence stage of fibrosis and spontaneous or interferon-induced viral clearance in thalassemia patients with hepatitis C virus infection JF - Haematologica JA - haematol VL - 97 IS - 5 SE - Articles DO - 10.3324/haematol.2011.050351 UR - https://haematologica.org/article/view/6292 SP - 679-686 AB - Background Polymorphisms in the interleukin-28B are important determinants in the spontaneous and drug-induced control of hepatitis C virus infection.Design and Methods We assessed the association of rs8099917 and rs12979860 polymorphisms with spontaneous viral clearance, severity of liver fibrosis, and response to interferon-monotherapy in 245 thalassemia major patients with hepatitis C virus infection.Results Ninety-eight patients (40%) had a spontaneous viral clearance while 147 patients (60%) developed a chronic infection. Spontaneous viral clearance was more frequent among patients with the T/T genotype of rs8099917 polymorphism (OR 2.130; P=0.008) or C/C genotype of rs12979860 polymorphism (OR 2.425; P=0.001). During observation, 131 patients with chronic infection underwent a liver biopsy; age (OR 1.058; P=0.01) G/T or G/G genotypes of rs8099917 polymorphism (OR 3.962; P=0.001), and C/T or T/T genotypes of rs12979860 polymorphism (OR 3.494; P=0.005) were associated with severe liver fibrosis, independent of liver iron concentration. Finally, T/T genotype of rs8099917 polymorphism (OR 3.014; P=0.03) or C/C genotype of rs12979860 polymorphism (OR 3.285; P=0.01), age (OR 0.902; P=0.001), female gender (OR 3.418; P=0.01) and 2 or 3 virus C genotypes (OR 4.700; P=0.007) were independently associated with sustained virological response in 114 patients treated with alpha-interferon.Conclusions Polymorphisms in the interleukin-28B are associated with the control of hepatitis C virus infection in thalassemia major patients, and understanding allelic patterns has an important role in determining prognosis and therapeutic management. ER -