Interferon lambda 4 (IFNL4) gene polymorphism is associated with spontaneous clearance of HCV in HIV-1 positive patients

• Published in: Genetics and molecular biology 2016-07, Vol.39 (3), p.374-379
• Main Authors: Alves, Camila Fernanda da Silveira, Grott, Camila Schultz, Lunge, Vagner Ricardo, Béria, Jorge Umberto, Tietzmann, Daniela Cardoso, Stein, Airton Tetelbom, Simon, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY; GENETICS & HEREDITY; Hepatitis C virus; HIV/HCV co-infected patients; Human and Medical Genetics; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; IFNL4 genotypes; Lentivirus; Spontaneous clearance
• ISSN: 1415-4757; 1678-4685; 1678-4685
• DOI: 10.1590/1678-4685-GMB-2015-0106

Approximately one-third of the individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) are co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Co-infected patients have an increased risk for developing end-stage liver diseases. Variants upstream of the IFNL3 gene have been associated with spontaneous and treatment-induced clearance of HCV infection. Recently, a novel polymorphism was discovered, denoted IFNL4 ΔG > TT (rs368234815), which seems to be a better predictor of spontaneous clearance than the IFNL4 rs12979860 polymorphism. We aimed to determine the prevalence of the IFNL4 ΔG > TT variants and to evaluate the association with spontaneous clearance of HCV infection in Brazilian HIV-1 patients. The IFNL4 ΔG > TT genotypes were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction digestion in 138 HIV-1 positive patients who had an anti-HCV positive result. Spontaneous clearance of HCV was observed in 34 individuals (24.6%). IFNL4 genotype distribution was significantly different between individuals who had spontaneous clearance and chronic HCV patients (p=0.002). The probability of spontaneous clearance of HCV infection for patients with the IFNL4 TT/TT genotype was 3.6 times higher than for patients carrying the IFNL4 ΔG allele (OR=3.63, 95% CI:1.51-8.89, p=0.001). The IFNL4 ΔG > TT polymorphism seems to be better than IFNL4 rs12979860 to predict spontaneous clearance of the HCV in Brazilian HIV-1 positive patients.