Relationship between the IL28B gene-related single-nucleotide polymorphism of rs8099917 and susceptibility to hepatitis C infection in Iranian population

The current medical treatment for hepatitis C is a combination of antiviral therapy along with pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin. Recent studies have demonstrated that single nucleotide polymorphisms near the interleukin 28B gene coding for IFN-λ3 were associated with the antiviral response. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the frequency of G/T polymorphism of rs8099917 among the Iranian population. This cross-sectional study was performed on 93 blood samples (71 sensitive and 22 resistant to treatment) were collected from individuals suffering from chronic HCV, and 57 healthy controls. DNA was extracted from the samples and the frequency of the polymorphism was analyzed using the PCR-RFLP method. Finally, the products were detected on 3.5% agarose gel electrophoresis. The frequency of the G/T polymorphism between the healthy individuals and patients were TT: 75%, TG: 23%, GG: 2%, and TT: 57%, TG: 35%, GG: 8%, respectively. Moreover, the TT genotype was identified in 46 patients of whom 71 achieved SVR, while the GT heterozygous was found in 33 patients and SVR was achieved in 19. Finally, the GG was detected in 7 patients and only one patient was resistant to treatment. Results show a significant effect of G allele on susceptibility to HCV compared to the other allele T (P=0.013). Although no correlation was seen between the polymorphism and SVR among the patients, further studies with more samples are necessary.