Background And Objectives: Many patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection do not respond to antiviral treatment, possibly due to viral quasispecies. We aimed to investigate whether the quasispecies population could be used as a predictor of response to therapy in our patients.

Methods: The quasispecies of HCV genotype 4 (HCV-4) were studied in 25 naïve Saudi patients at zero, three, and six months following interferon alfa and ribavirin combination therapy. Hypervariable region 1 within the E2/NS1 gene of the virus was analyzed by the single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) technique after amplification.

Results: Pretreatment DNA bands by SSCP (2-7 bands) were detected in all patients. In those who achieved a complete virological response within six months (viral load P=.53). Two of the four patients with pretreatment high viral load and the same or decreased composition of quasispecies bands responded to the therapy.

Conclusion: Quasispecies in our studied patients cannot be used to predict responsiveness to treatment, but may offer an explanation for failure of most HCV-4 patients to respond to interferon alfa and ribavirin therapy.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2855060PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0256-4947.60515DOI Listing

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