What question did this study set out to answer?

This study aims to determine how IL28B, HLA-C, and KIR gene variants affect response to therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

September 13, 2011Open Access

IL28B, HLA-C, and KIR Variants Additively Predict Response to Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection in a European Cohort: A Cross-Sectional Study

Key Points

This study aims to determine how IL28B, HLA-C, and KIR gene variants affect response to therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
Genotyping of 417 treatment responders and 493 treatment failures with PegIFN/R therapy, along with 234 spontaneous clearance individuals.
Assessment of variants in IL28B, HLA-C, and KIR genes among European subjects.
Statistical analysis of the relationship between gene variants and treatment outcomes using odds ratios.
IL28B SNP rs8099917 linked to lower treatment-induced clearance (OR 2.19, p = 1.27×10(-8)).
HLA-C C2C2 genotype associated with treatment failure (OR 1.52, p = 0.024).
Prediction accuracy for treatment failure increased from 66% to 80% when combining IL28B, HLA-C, and KIR results.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To date, drug response genes have not proved as useful in clinical practice as was anticipated at the start of the genomic era. An exception is in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection with pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin (PegIFN/R). Viral clearance is achieved in 40%-50% of patients. Interleukin 28B (IL28B) genotype predicts treatment-induced and spontaneous clearance. To improve the predictive value of this genotype, we studied the combined effect of variants of IL28B with human leukocyte antigen C (HLA-C), and its ligands the killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR), which have previously been implicated in HCV viral control. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We genotyped chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotype 1 patients with PegIFN/R treatment-induced clearance (n = 417) and treatment failure (n = 493), and 234 individuals with spontaneous clearance, for HLA-C C1 versus C2, presence of inhibitory and activating KIR genes, and two IL28B SNPs, rs8099917 and rs12979860. All individuals were Europeans or of European descent. IL28B SNP rs8099917 "G" was associated with absence of treatment-induced clearance (odds ratio OR 2.19, p = 1.27×10(-8), 1.67-2.88) and absence of spontaneous clearance (OR 3.83, p = 1.71×10(-14), 2.67-5.48) of HCV, as was rs12979860, with slightly lower ORs. The HLA-C C2C2 genotype was also over-represented in patients who failed treatment (OR 1.52, p = 0.024, 1.05-2.20), but was not associated with spontaneous clearance. Prediction of treatment failure improved from 66% with IL28B to 80% using both genes in this cohort (OR 3.78, p = 8.83×10(-6), 2.03-7.04). There was evidence that KIR2DL3 and KIR2DS2 carriage also altered HCV treatment response in combination with HLA-C and IL28B. CONCLUSIONS: Genotyping for IL28B, HLA-C, and KIR genes improves prediction of HCV treatment response. These findings support a role for natural killer (NK) cell activation in PegIFN/R treatment-induced clearance, partially mediated by IL28B.

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