No impact of interleukin-28B polymorphisms on spontaneous or drug-induced hepatitis delta virus clearance

• Published in: Digestive and liver disease Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 348 - 352
• Main Authors: Visco-Comandini, Ubaldo, Lapa, Daniele, Taibi, Chiara, Angeletti, Claudio, Capobianchi, Maria Rosaria, Garbuglia, Anna Rosa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2014
• Subjects: Adult; Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use; Cohort Studies; Female; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; Genotype; HDV infection; Hepatitis Antibodies - immunology; Hepatitis D, Chronic - drug therapy; Hepatitis D, Chronic - genetics; Hepatitis D, Chronic - immunology; Hepatitis Delta Virus - genetics; Hepatitis Delta Virus - immunology; Humans; IFN treatment; IL28B; Interferon-alpha - therapeutic use; Interferons; Interleukins - genetics; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Remission, Spontaneous; Retrospective Studies; RNA, Viral - blood; Treatment Outcome; Viral clearance; Viral Load; White People; HDV infection; IL28B; Viral clearance; IFN treatment
• ISSN: 1590-8658; 1878-3562; 1878-3562
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dld.2013.11.006

rs12979860 and rs8099917 interleukin-28B polymorphisms are associated with spontaneous or interferon-alpha induced hepatitis C clearance, “CC” and “TT” genotypes (respectively) being the most favourable. There are no data on the influence of interleukin-28B polymorphisms on hepatitis delta clearance in hepatitis B/D co-infected patients. The present study explores the potential influence of both rs12979860 and rs8099917 polymorphisms on delta infection outcome. Retrospective-longitudinal study on 55 European patients observed for at least 4 years, selected from a cohort of 439 subjects positive for hepatitis delta antibodies and hepatitis B core antibodies. The rate of spontaneous and interferon induced delta-RNA clearance was compared in interleukin-28B rs12979860 “CC” vs “non CC”, and in rs8099917 “TT” vs “non TT” genotypes. Prevalence of rs12979860C allele was 60%, consistent with the reported prevalence in Italy (67%, p=0.128). No significant differences in spontaneous clearance rate were observed between rs12979860 “CC” and “non CC” genotypes (13.3% vs 7.5%, respectively, p=0.60), and between rs8099917 “TT” and “non-TT” genotypes (11.1 vs 7.1%, respectively, p=0.67). No differences were observed for interferon-induced delta-RNA clearance either. Our data suggest that interleukin-28B polymorphisms might not influence hepatitis delta clearance rate in either natural history or interferon-alpha response.