The impact of antihyperlipidemic drugs on the viral load of patients with chronic hepatitis C infection: a meta-analysis

Background Several genes and their single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with either spontaneous resolution of hepatitis C infection or better treatment-induced viral clearance. We tested a cohort of intravenous drug users (IVDU) diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) for treatment response and its association with the SNPs in the interleukin-6 (rs1800795-IL6) and the interleukin-28B (rs12979860-IL28B) genes. Methods The study included 110 Croatian IVDU positive for anti-HCV antibody. Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based approach. Patients were treated by standard pegylated-interferon/ribavirin and followed throughout a period of four years, during which sustained virological response (SVR) was determined. All data were analysed with statistical package SPSS 19.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA) and PLINK v1.07 software. Results Patients showed a significantly better response to treatment according to the number of copies of the C allele carried at rs1800795-IL6 (P = 0.034). All but one of the patients with CC genotype achieved SVR (93%), whereas the response rate of patients with GG genotype was 64%. The association of rs1800795-IL6 with SVR status remained significant after further adjustment for patients’ age, fibrosis staging, and viral genotype (OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.16–4.68, P = 0.019). Distributions of allele frequencies at the locus rs12979860-IL28B among the study cohort and the underlying general population were suggestive of a protective effect of CC genotype in acquiring chronic hepatitis C in the Croatian IVDU population. Discussion The rs1800795-IL6 polymorphism is associated with positive response to treatment in IVDU patients positive for HCV infection. A protective role of rs12979860-IL28B CC genotype in acquiring chronic hepatitis C is suggested for Croatian IVDU population.

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Impact of Hepatitis B Exposure on Sustained Virological Response Rates of Highly Viremic Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

Gastroenterology Research and Practice ◽

10.1155/2009/812140 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2009 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Ioannis S. Elefsiniotis ◽

Christos Pavlidis ◽

Elena Vezali ◽

Theodoros Mariolis-Sapsakos ◽

Sotirios Koutsounas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Hepatitis ◽

Viral Load ◽

Hepatitis C ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Sustained Virological Response ◽

Chronic Hepatitis C ◽

Virological Response ◽

Genotype 1 ◽

Treatment Naïve ◽

The Impact

Aim. To evaluate the impact of hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) seropositivity in sustained virological response (SVR) rates in treatment-naïve, chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients with high pretreatment viral load (>800000 IU/mL).Methods. 185 consecutive CHC patients (14.4% cirrhotics, 70.2% prior intravenous drug users) treated with pegylated interferon-a2b plus ribavirin, for 24 or 48 weeks based on viral genotype, were retrospectively analyzed. SVR was confirmed by undetectable serum HCV-RNA six months after the end of treatment schedule.Results. Thirty percent of CHC/HBsAg-negative patients were anti-HBc-positive. Anti-HBc positivity was more prevalent in cirrhotic, compared to noncirrhotic patients (76.9% versus 19.5%,P<.05). Serum HBV-DNA was detected in the minority of anti-HBc-positive patients (1.97%). Overall, 62.1% of patients exhibited SVR, while 28.6% did not; 71.4% of non-SVRs were infected with genotype 1. In the univariate analysis, the anti-HBc positivity was negatively associated with treatment outcome (P=.065). In the multivariate model, only the advanced stage of liver disease (P=.015) and genotype-1 HCV infection (P=.003), but not anti-HBc-status (P=.726), proved to be independent predictors of non-SVR.Conclusion. Serum anti-HBc positivity does not affect the SVR rates in treatment-naïve CHC patients with high pretreatment viral load, receiving the currently approved combination treatment.

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