Identification of predictors in treatment response by mutational analysis of internal ribosome entry site within hepatitis C virus

我们分析了接受聚乙二醇化干扰素和利巴韦林联合治疗的慢性丙型肝炎(CH-C)患者血清中丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)内部核糖体进入位点(IRES)的变异。12w(-)组是指治疗开始后12周内血清HCVRNA阴性的患者，12w(+)组是指12周和24周血清HCVRNA阳性的患者。12w(-)和12w(+)组分别由23例和18例患者组成，共计41例。对主要的丙型肝炎病毒IRES结构域II(DII)和III(DIII)的分析表明，两组之间的DII突变没有显著差异。DIII基因第141~252位核苷酸(DIII141~252)突变频率明显高于DIII141~252位核苷酸(P<0.05)。这些结果表明，对丙型肝炎病毒IRES DIII的突变分析有助于建立新的治疗反应预测指标。

We analyzed mutations in the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the serum of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) who had received combination therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin (PEG-RBV therapy) .We defined a 12w(-) group as those patients who became negative for serum HCV RNA within 12 weeks after treatment initiation, and a 12w(+) group as those who were positive for serum HCV RNA at 12 and 24 weeks. The 12w(-) and 12w(+) groups consisted of 23 and 18 patients, respectively, totaling 41. Analysis of the major HCV IRES domains, domains II (dII) and III (dIII), showed no marked difference in dII mutations between the two groups. However, the frequency of mutations in dIII tended to be higher in the 12w(-) than in the 12w(+) group, and was significantly higher in dIII at nucleotides 141-252 (dIII 141-252) (P<0.05). These results suggest that mutation analysis of the HCV IRES dIII contributes to establishing new treatment response predictors in PEG-RBV therapy for CH-C.