Role of IL28B genotype in older hepatitis C virus-infected patients

Table 1 Association between sustained virological response rates, age and gender in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with standard of care

Ref.	G	Number of	Naive	Age (yr, mean ± SD)/	Formula	SVR rates
		patients		gender (male)
McHutchison et al[17]	1	1016	Yes	47.5 ± 8.1/59.7%	Low-dose PegIFN alpha-2b plus RBV	38.00%
	1	1019	Yes	47.5 ± 7.8/60.2%	Standard-dose PegIFN alpha-2b plus RBV	39.80%
	1	1035	Yes	47.6 ± 8.2/59.2%	PegIFN alpha-2a plus RBV	40.90%
Jeffers et al[18]	1	78 (Black)	Yes	46.3 ± 0.7/72%	PegIFN alpha-2a plus RBV	26.00%
	1	28 (White)	Yes	44.7 ± 1.4/61%	PegIFN alpha-2a plus RBV	39.00%
Bruno et al[19]	1	163	Yes	49.9 ± 11.1/62%	PegIFN alpha-2b plus RBV	41.10%
	1	148	Yes	49.5 ± 11.1/62%	IFN alpha-2b plus RBV	29.30%
Conjeevaram et al[20]	1	196 (African-Americans)	Yes	49.0 ± (45.0, 52.5)/64.8%	PegIFN alpha-2a plus RBV	28.00%
	1	205 (Caucasian-Americans)	Yes	48.0 ± (43.0, 52.0)/65.8%	PegIFN alpha-2a plus RBV	52.00%
Miyauchi et al[21]	1	383	-	55.0 ± 10.9/62%	PegIFN alpha-2b plus RBV	61.80%
Kanda et al[22]	1	127	Yes	56.1 ± 10.7/48.8%	PegIFN alpha-2a plus RBV	56.60%
	1	69	No	59.0 ± 10.1/49.2%	PegIFN alpha-2a plus RBV	39.10%

G: Genotype; IFN: Interferon; SVR: Sustained virological response; RBV: Ribavirin.

Table 2 Clinical characteristics of hepatitis C patients aged ≥ 65 years and treated with standard of care

	Total (n= 196)	Male (n= 104)	Female (n= 92)	P value1
Age (yr)	67.8 ± 2.5	68.1 ± 2.6	67.4 ± 2.4
Gender (male/female)	104/92	104/0	0/92
HCV viral load (high/low/unknown)	185/7/4	6/2/1996	1/2/1989	0.169
HCV genotypes 1/2	164/32	Nov-93	71/21	0.033
Treatment-naïve (yes/no/unknown)	108/87/1	55/48/1	52/39/1	0.704
ALT (IU/L)	61.3 ± 50.7	70.1 ± 57.1	51.4 ± 40.3	0.010
White blood cells (/μL)	4940 ± 1490	5160 ± 1670	4690 ± 1210	0.027
Neutrophils (/μL)	2660 ± 1080	2790 ± 1270	2530 ± 830	0.096
Hemoglobin (g/dL)	13.7 ± 1.5	14.1 ± 1.6	13.2 ± 1.3	0.000
Platelets (× 104/μL)	15.1 ± 4.7	15.0 ± 4.8	15.4 ± 4.6	0.553
Peg-IFN α - 2a / Peg-IFN α - 2b	86/110	41/63	45/47	0.233

Values are expressed as mean ± SD.

¹P value, comparison between male and female groups. HCV: Hepatitis C virus; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; Peg-IFN: Peginterferon.

Table 3 Severe adverse events in hepatitis C patients aged ≥ 65 years and treated with standard of care n (%)

Severe adverse events	No. of patient
	discontinuities
Occurrence of malignancies (Hepatocellular carcinoma)	5 (13.5)
Severe fatigue	5 (13.5)
Severe pulmonary symptoms (bloody phlegm, cough, or interstitial pneumonitis)	5 (13.5)
Severe anemia	5 (13.5)
Psychiatric disorders	3 (8.1)
Severe skin lesion	3 (8.1)
Neurological disorders	3 (8.1)
Severe thrombocytopenia or neutropenia	3 (8.1)
Severe denutrition	2 (5.4)
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding	1 (2.7)
Severe infection (tuberculosis)	1 (2.7)
Unknown	1 (2.7)

Table 4 Association between IL28B rs8099917 and treatment response in hepatitis C patients aged ≥ 65 years and treated with standard of care

	Total	IL28B TT	IL28B TG	1P values
	(n = 41)	(n = 31)	(n = 10)
Age (yr)	67.7 ± 2.6	68.0 ± 2.9	67.0 ± 1.3	0.141
Gender (male/female)	28/13	22/9	4/6	0.796
HCV viral load, (high/low)	41/0	31/0	10/0	NA
HCV genotype (G1/G2)	41/0	25/6	8/2	0.678
Treatment-naïve (yes/no)	29/12	24/7	5/5	0.208
ALT (IU/L)	56.5 ± 40.2	54.9 ± 41.2	61.1 ± 38.9	0.677
γ-GTP (IU/L)	36.4 ± 33.3	33.1 ± 33.1	46.6 ± 33.4	0.269
White blood cells (/μL)	4840 ± 1300	4730 ± 1160	5190 ± 1690	0.337
Hemoglobin (g/dL)	13.5 ± 1.3	13.6 ± 1.1	13.3 ± 1.8	0.528
Platelets (x104/μL)	14.9 ± 5.4	14.4 ± 5.1	16.5 ± 6.2	0.289
IL28B rs8099917 (TT/TG)	31/10	31/0	0/10	NA
EVR rates	34.1% (14/41)	45.1% (14/31)	0% (0/10)	0.025
SVR rates	43.9% (18/41)	48.3% (15/31)	30.0% (3/10)	0.514

Values are expressed as mean ± SD. ¹P value, comparison between IL28B TT and IL28B TG groups. HCV: Hepatitis C virus; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; γ-GTP: γ-glutamyl transpeptidase; EVR: Early virological response; SVR: Sustained virological response; NA: Not available.