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©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 28, 2014; 20(24): 7555-7569
Published online Jun 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i24.7555
Published online Jun 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i24.7555
Impact of hepatitis C virus heterogeneity on interferon sensitivity: An overview
Ahmed El-Shamy, Hak Hotta, Division of Microbiology, Center for Infectious Diseases, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Ahmed El-Shamy, Department of Virology, Suez Canal University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ismalia 41522, Egypt
Author contributions: El-Shamy A and Hotta H contributed equally to this work.
Supported by A Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, a SATREPS Grant from Japan Science and Technology Agency and Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the Japan Initiative for Global Research Network on Infectious Diseases (J-GRID) program from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan
Correspondence to: Hak Hotta, MD, PhD, Division of Microbiology, Center for Infectious Diseases, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan. hotta@kobe-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-78-3825500 Fax: +81-78-3825519
Received: November 15, 2013
Revised: February 18, 2014
Accepted: April 21, 2014
Published online: June 28, 2014
Revised: February 18, 2014
Accepted: April 21, 2014
Published online: June 28, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: This review aims to cover recent updates on the impact of major hepatitis C virus (HCV) genetic factors, including HCV genotype, mutations in amino acids 70 and 91 of the core protein and sequence heterogeneity in interferon (IFN) sensitivity-determining region and IFN/ribavirin resistance-determining region of Nonstructural proteins 5A, on virological responses to IFN-based therapy.