The interleukin 28B gene polymorphism, rs8099917, in patients with chronic hepatitis C and response to the treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

Background: The present study aimed to determine the frequency of the IL28B polymorphism rs8099917 in patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection treated with pegylated-interferon-α2b (PEG-IFN-α2b) and ribavirin (RBV) and its treatment outcome.

Materials And Methods: The IL28B rs8099917 genotypes were determined among 100 HCV-infected patients and the viral load was also estimated. PEG-IFN-α2b and RBV combination were administrated to the patients for 48 weeks and the treatment outcome was defined.

The estimation of direct medical costs of treating patients with chronic hepatitis B and C in iran.

Background: The objective of this study is to estimate the average diagnosis and treatment costs of chronic hepatitis B and C, with respect to different therapeutic strategies in Iran.

Methods: This is a descriptive, analytical, and cross-sectional study carried out on patients with hepatitis B and C, who were referred to the Liver Disease Research Center for Prevention and Treatment of Hepatitis, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, in 2011. We have estimated the direct medical costs including doctors' fees, cost of para-clinical tests, medical treatments, and liver biopsy, in different treatment strategies.