Correlation between IL-28 Polymorphism and Spontaneous Clearance in HCV Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

\n Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a serious global health issue. Nearly 20% of HCV patients spontaneous clear the virus. While some studies have shown the association of spontaneous clearance (SC) of the virus with Interleukin (IL) 28B single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), others didn t show such a relationship. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of IL28B polymorphisms (12979860 SNP) and SC of HCV infection. Upon initial screening of the databases, a total of 545 articles were retrieved, of which 22 studies that met predefined eligibility criteria were entered into the meta-analysis. Odds ratios (OR) with its confidence intervals (95% CI), heterogeneity, publication bias, and sensitivity analysis were assessed. According to the meta-analysis results, a significant association was observed between the rs12979860 SNP and SC of HCV infection. The results indicated that the ORs of SC from hepatitis C virus infection were 2.75 times higher in those with cytokine gene polymorphisms, 95% CI (2.23 to 3.38). Moreover, it was found that the prevalence of rs12979860 CC was 0.33 with 95 CI (0.28–0.38) in genotype one and was 0.40 with 95 CI (0.34–0.47) in other genotypes. Our meta-analysis results suggest that IL28B rs12979860 CC is a strong predictor for SC of hepatitis C infection in PEG IFN-a/RBV-treated patients.