The ITPA and C20orf194 Polymorphisms and Hematological Changes During Treatment With Pegylated-Interferon Plus Ribavirin in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C

Background: it has been found that itpase deficiency is caused by itpa gene polymorphisms. it was observed that itpa polymorphisms have impact on hematological changes, including hemoglobin (hb)-decline during treatment of chronic hepatitis c (chc) patients with pegylated-interferon (peg-ifn) plus ribavirin (rbv). objectives: this study aimed to assess the effect of itpa and c20orf194 polymorphisms on hematological changes at week 4 of treatment with peg-ifn plus rbv in patients with chc. patients and methods: in this retrospective study, 168 patients with chc (56% hcv genotype-1 and 44% hcv genotype-3) under the treatment of peg-ifn plus rbv were genotyped for rs1127354, rs7270101 and rs6051702 polymorphisms by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. hematological changes including hb-, platelet (plt)- and white blood cell-decline at week 4 of the treatment were assessed. results: in univariate analysis, rs1127354 and hcv genotypes were found to influence the hb-decline at week 4 of the treatment. in multivariate analysis, rs1127354 ca + aa and hcv genotype-3 were found to have a great role on prevention of hb-decline. furthermore, rs1127354 and hcv rna levels were found to influence the plt-decline at week 4 of the treatment in the univariate analysis. in multivariate analysis, rs1127354 ca + aa and hcv rna levels less than 600,000 iu/ml were found to be associated with a higher level of plt-decline. conclusions: in patients with chc, who were treated with peg-ifn plus rbv, hb-decline was affected by rs1127354 and hcv genotypes. however, plt-decline may be altered by rs1127354 and baseline hcv rna levels.