(Similarity) Interleukin-28B Polymorphisms and Response of Chronic Hepatitis C Patients from Indonesia to Pegylated Interferon/Ribavirin Treatment

Plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were
collected from chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients in Dr.
Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang, East Java Province, or a private clinic in Sanglah, Denpasar, Bali Province, Indonesia. All the patients were treated with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN)-alfa-2a (Pegasys) and ribavirin (RBV). Patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 were treated for 48 weeks, and patients withHCVgenotype 2 or 3 were treated for 24 weeks. This study demonstrated that Indonesian patients with chronic hepatitis C (mostly ethnic Java people) mostly were infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1; however, they carried mainly the major genotypes of interleukin 28B (IL-28B) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs12979860 CC, rs11881222 TT, rs8103142 AA, and rs8099917 TT), and they mostly achieved sustained virological responses to pegylated interferon/ribavirin treatment.