Polymorphisms of HLA-DM on Treatment Response to Interferon/Ribavirin in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Type 1 Infection.

Background: gene, which is related to antigen processing and presentation and located in the non-classical class-II region of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region, may play a crucial role in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection treatment outcomes. The study was conducted to evaluate the role of the variant of several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in gene in HCV treatment outcomes.

Methods: We genotyped four SNPs from the candidate genes ( and ) in 336 patients who were treated with pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin (PEG IFN-α/RBV). Multivariate analysis of factors predicting sustained virological response (SVR) was conducted.

Results: rs1063478 and rs23544 were independent factors of HCV treatment outcomes in Chinese Han population. Individuals who carried favorable genotypes of rs1063478TT and rs23544GG were more likely to achieve SVR {Dominant model: odds ratio (OR) = 2.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.24-3.41; OR = 2.04, 95% CI =1.23-3.35, respectively}. Rs23544, rs1063478, baseline glucose, baseline platelet and T4 level were independent predictors of SVR. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was 0.740.

Conclusions: The genetic variation of rs1063478 and rs23544 are associated with the treatment outcomes in the Chinese Han population.