Evaluation of the role of IL-6 gene polymorphism in determining response of HCV Egyptian patients to anti-HCV treatment

Abstract

HCV is the major etiological agent of liver disease worldwide. IL-6 is a cytokine that plays a role in immune defense against viruses. It had been demonstrated that polymorphism in the promoter region of the IL-6 gene locus are correlated with treatment induced clearance of hepatitis C virus infection. Therefore, we conducted this study on 90 patients to study the effect of IL-6 locus polymorphisms and relation to response to Sofosbuvir and Semiprevir combination treatment. The study participants were 86 males (95.6%) with mean age 51.5 ± 7.5 and 4 females with mean age 51.5 ±7.5 (4.4%). The distribution of the 3 genotypes (GG, GC & CC) showed predominance of GG genotype in (72.2%) of the sample size. Analysis of genotypes and linkage to response to treatment revealed predominance of GG genotype among responders (71.6%). All analysis regarding genotype distribution and response to treatment showed non-significant pattern. This was in harmony with analysis of allele’s frequency in relation to response to treatment that was also of non-significant pattern. Analysis of patient laboratory data in relation to response to treatment showed significant increase in hemoglobin levels(P=0.032) compared in non-responders compared to responders. Creatinine levels showed higher values in non-responders compared to responders(P=0.039) and a mild non-significant decrease in values of TLC after treatment was observed compared to TLC levels before treatment.