Absence of correlation between IL-28B gene polymorphisms and the clinical presentation of chronic hepatitis B in an Amazon Brazilian population.

Objective: The present study investigated the prevalence of the IL-28B polymorphisms rs12979860 and rs8099917 in chronic hepatitis B patients from a case study in Eastern Amazonia.

Methods: In total, 65 chronically infected HBV patients and 97 healthy subjects who were anti-HBc and anti-HBs positive (control group) were evaluated between May 2011 and December 2012. The groups of patients were designated as inactive carriers, chronic hepatitis without cirrhosis, and chronic hepatitis with cirrhosis based on clinical, pathological, biochemical, hematological, and virological variables.

SNP rs8099917 in gene IL28B might be associated with risk of chronic infection by HCV but not with response to treatment.

Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize the genetic profile of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection relative to polymorphisms rs12979860 and rs8099917 in gene IL28B and the association of those polymorphisms with the response to treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, performed at a reference center in Brazilian Amazonia.

Methods: A total of 75 individuals with chronic hepatitis C and 98 healthy individuals from both genders over 18 years old were assessed. DNA samples were collected from leukocytes and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction to genotype polymorphisms rs12979860 and rs8099917.