Polymorphism of inteleukin 28B gene in hepatitis C virus infected individuals

Virus hepatitisa C (HCV) zaražava hepatocite i limfocite. Dio osoba zaraženih virusom spontano će se osloboditi virusa tijekom akutne faze infekcije, dok će oko 80 % zaraženih razviti kroničnu infekciju. Kronična infekcija HCV-om može uzrokovati cirozu jetre i karcinom. Osobe zaražene genotipom 1 HCV-a dulje se liječe antivirusnim lijekovima u odnosu na osobe zaražene genotipovima 2 i 3, a uspješnost liječenja je značajno manja. Interleukin-28B pripada skupini interferona λ čije djelovanje inhibira replikaciju virusa. Polimorfizam jednog nukleotida rs12979860 u promotorskoj regiji gena za IL-28B povećava ekspresiju gena i jedan je od čimbenika koji utječu na tijek zaraze HCV-om. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je odrediti povezanost između genotipa HCV-a, polimorfizma rs12979860 gena za IL-28B i viremije u serumu u osoba s kroničnim hepatitisom C. Iz seruma ispitanika izolirana je virusna RNA, qRT-PCR metodom određena je koncentracija virusne RNA po mikrolitru seruma te je metodom reverzne hibridizacije određen genotip HCV-a. Iz pune krvi ispitanika izolirana je ljudska DNA te RT-PCR metodom određen je polimorfizam rs12979860 gena za IL-28B. Ne postoje statistički značajne razlike između C homozigota, T homozigota i heterozigota u opsegu viremije pri ulasku u kliničku skrb.The hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects hepatocytes and lymphocytes. In a smaller portion of the infected population, the virus is eradicated spontaneously during the acute phase of the inflammation. On the other hand, around 80 % of the infected population suffers chronic inflammation, which may lead to liver cirrhosis and cancer. In comparison to those infected by genotypes 2 and 3, individuals infected by HCV genotype 1 have a prolonged antiviral treatment time, as well as lower treatment success rates. Interleukin-28B belongs to the interferon λ family, whose prominent function is the inhibition of viral replication. The single-nucleotide polymorphism rs12979860 in the promotor region of the IL-28B gene enhances the expression of the gene and is one of the factors influencing the course of HCV infection. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between the HCV genotype, the polymorphism rs12979860 in the IL-28B gene and the viraemia in people suffering chronic hepatitis C. We isolated the viral RNA from the serum of patients, determined its concentration per microliter of serum using qRT-PCR and determined the HCV genotype using reverse hybridization. We isolated human DNA from patients whole blood and determined the polymorphism rs127979860 of the IL-28B gene using RT-PCR. There are no statistically significant differences between C homozygous, T homozygous and heterozygous individuals in intial viral load