Influence of Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms on Response to Pegylated Interferon in Chronic Hepatitis B Egyptian Patients

We explored the effect of vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) polymorphisms in response to PEG-IFN treatment in Egyptian chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.
Two hundred hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients (42.3±10.7 years) on PEG-IFN α-2a (180 μg /kg for 48 weeks) and one hundred control subjects (37.3 ±12 years) were enrolled in the study. Vitamin D levels and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) expression were assessed by ELISA. VDR polymorphisms FokI T>C (rs 10735810), BsmI A>G (rs 1544410), ApaI (rs7975253), and TaqI C>T (rs 731236), were genotyped using real-time PCR.
Hepatitis B virus patients expressed significantly greater AST (p= VDR gene polymorphisms may be used as treatment response predictors in HBV patients receiving PEG-IFN. FokI SNP and bAt haplotype are independent factors that that can be used to determine PEG-IFN treatment responses in HBV-infected patients.