Positional effect of mutations in 5'UTR of hepatitis C virus 4a on patients' response to therapy

Table 2 Distribution of the 19 identified mutations in different loops of domain III in SVR and BT patients

Region	Responder (SVR; %)	BT pre treatment (%)	BT post treatment (%)
Stem-loop IIIa (156-171)	-	14.3	10
Stem-loop IIIb (172-227)	50	14.3	20
Stem-loop IIIc (228-238)	-	-	-
Stem-loop IIId (253-279)	40	57.1	50
Junction joining stem-loop IIIa, b, c, & d (141-153) & (239-252)	10	14.3	20

Ten mutations, out of the 19 identified point mutations, are found in responders (SVR). Five of these mutations are found in loop IIIb, four in IIId, and one in the junction. Seven mutations are found in the BT pre-treatment group (four in loop IIId and one in each of loop IIIa, IIIb, and junction). Ten mutations were detected in BT post-treatment (five in IIId, 2 in each of IIIb and the junction, and one in loop IIIa).