Our data revealed that there is a significant association between core protein mutations, particularly at position 70 (Arg70Gln), and treatment outcome in HCV subgenotype 4d patients.
Amino acid (aa) 70 substitution (R70Q/H) in the core protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b has been shown to be one of the key factors in determining resistance for pegylated interferon-α plus ribavirin combination therapy (PEG-IFNα/RBV).
However, regardless of the dominant strain, virological response types or the IL28B SNP genotypes, 70Q/H strains always exhibited the same response to treatment as the 70R strains and the percentage of HCV harboring the 70Q/H substitution did not change significantly during treatment.
Quantification of HCV-RNA by real-time PCR was performed for every patient, and gene polymorphism of BCL-2 (ala 43 Thr) was performed for all patients and controls.