NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE VARIATIONS IN THE INTERNAL RIBOSOME ENTRY SITE OFHEPATITIS-C VIRUS-1B - NO ASSOCIATION WITH EFFICACY OF INTERFERON THERAPY OR SERUM HCV-RNA LEVELS
C. Yamamoto et al., NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE VARIATIONS IN THE INTERNAL RIBOSOME ENTRY SITE OFHEPATITIS-C VIRUS-1B - NO ASSOCIATION WITH EFFICACY OF INTERFERON THERAPY OR SERUM HCV-RNA LEVELS, Hepatology, 26(6), 1997, pp. 1616-1620
The extreme 5'-proximal sequences of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genom
e including the S'untranslated region (5'UTR) and the first 30 nucleot
ides of the core region are highly conserved, and serve as an internal
ribosome entry site (IRES) that initiates the cap-independent transla
tion of HCV polyprotein. Mutations in the IRES sequence have been show
n to cause changes in the efficiency of protein translation in vitro.
However, the significance of genetic variations in the IRES is not ful
ly known in clinical settings. Pretreatment sera of 25 patients with H
CV-lb infection who were treated with interferon were amplified by pol
ymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the IRES sequence was directly seque
nced. Correlation of interferon responses or other clinical features w
ith IRES sequence variability was studied. Eleven of 25 patients were
sustained responders (SR) of interferon treatment (negative serum HCV
RNA and normal alanine transaminase levels for 6 months after the end
of interferon treatment), and the other 14 patients were nonresponders
([NR], defined as any patient with positive serum HCV RNA within 6 mo
nths after the end of interferon therapy). In each patient, one to fou
r nucleotide substitutions were found compared with the consensus sequ
ence of HCV-lb genotype. There were no differences in the number of nu
cleotide substitutions between either SR and NR (mean, 1.8 in SR, 2.1
in NR; P = .30), and no specific variations associated with SR or NR w
ere observed. Although NR had significantly higher serum levels of pre
treatment HCV RNA than SR (median, 16 vs. <0.5 Meq/mL; P = .02), there
was no correlation between the HCV-RNA level and the number of nucleo
tide substitutions in the IRES (mean, 1.9 nucleotide substitutions in
12 patients with HCV RNA (0.5 Meq/mt vs. 2.1 nucleotide substitutions
in 13 patients with HCV RNA >0.5 Meq/mL; P = .61). Sequence variabilit
y of the IRES has no influence on interferon efficacy or serum HCV-RNA
concentrations in patients with chronic HCV-lb infection.