TY - JOUR
T1 - Homocysteine levels and sustained virological response to pegylated-interferon α2b plus ribavirin therapy for chronic hepatitis C
T2 - A prospective study
AU - Borgia, Guglielmo
AU - Gentile, Ivan
AU - Fortunato, Giuliana
AU - Borrelli, Francesco
AU - Borelli, Salvatore
AU - De Caterina, Maurizio
AU - Di Taranto, Maria Donata
AU - Simone, Maria
AU - Borgia, Federico
AU - Viola, Chiara
AU - Reynaud, Laura
AU - Cerini, Raimondo
AU - Sacchetti, Lucia
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Background: Chronic hepatitis C affects about 3% of the world's population. Pegylated interferon (IFN) α plus ribavirin is the gold standard treatment. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase(MTHFR) is a key enzyme in the metabolism of homocysteine. MTHFR gene polymorphisms and high levels of homocysteine are associated with a high degree of steatosis and fibrosis, conditions associated with a low sustained virological response (SVR) rate. Aims: To evaluate whether MTHFR polymorphisms and homocysteine levels are predictors of the outcome of treatment in 102 prospectively enrolled patients with chronic hepatitis C naive to treatment. Methods: Patients were treated with pegylated interferon α-2b plus ribavirin. All patients underwent blood tests, assessment of homocysteine, vitamin B12, folate, hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA levels, screening for MTHFR gene polymorphisms and liver ultrasound examination. Results: Homocysteine levels were deranged (>16 μmol/L) in 10.5% of MTHFR wild-type patients vs 40.3% of non-wild-type patients (P = 0.015). Homocysteine levels were 14.4 μmol/L in SVR patients and 15.5 μmol/L in non-SVR patients (P = 0.049). The SVR rate was 40.0% in MTHFR wild-type patients, 52.0% in heterozygote mutants and 39.3% in homozygote mutants (P = 0.467). At logistic regression analysis, genotypes 2 and 3 (odds ratio: 12.328, 95% confidence interval: 3.390-44.837, P = 0.0001), homocysteine
AB - Background: Chronic hepatitis C affects about 3% of the world's population. Pegylated interferon (IFN) α plus ribavirin is the gold standard treatment. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase(MTHFR) is a key enzyme in the metabolism of homocysteine. MTHFR gene polymorphisms and high levels of homocysteine are associated with a high degree of steatosis and fibrosis, conditions associated with a low sustained virological response (SVR) rate. Aims: To evaluate whether MTHFR polymorphisms and homocysteine levels are predictors of the outcome of treatment in 102 prospectively enrolled patients with chronic hepatitis C naive to treatment. Methods: Patients were treated with pegylated interferon α-2b plus ribavirin. All patients underwent blood tests, assessment of homocysteine, vitamin B12, folate, hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA levels, screening for MTHFR gene polymorphisms and liver ultrasound examination. Results: Homocysteine levels were deranged (>16 μmol/L) in 10.5% of MTHFR wild-type patients vs 40.3% of non-wild-type patients (P = 0.015). Homocysteine levels were 14.4 μmol/L in SVR patients and 15.5 μmol/L in non-SVR patients (P = 0.049). The SVR rate was 40.0% in MTHFR wild-type patients, 52.0% in heterozygote mutants and 39.3% in homozygote mutants (P = 0.467). At logistic regression analysis, genotypes 2 and 3 (odds ratio: 12.328, 95% confidence interval: 3.390-44.837, P = 0.0001), homocysteine
KW - HCV
KW - Homocysteine
KW - MTHFR
KW - Pegylated interferon
KW - Ribavirin
KW - SVR
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2008.01832.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2008.01832.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 18662278
AN - SCOPUS:58149484038
VL - 29
SP - 248
EP - 252
JO - Liver International
JF - Liver International
SN - 1478-3223
IS - 2
ER -