Ann Clin Microbiol.  2013 Jun;16(2):69-74. 10.5145/ACM.2013.16.2.69.

Association between Apolipoprotein E Genotype and Treatment Response in Chronic Hepatitis C

• Kim YK
• Lee KM
• Lee WK

• KMID: 1431767
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2013.16.2.69

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes a chronic infection, resulting in progressive liver damage. Recent studies have described the protective effect of the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype on liver damage in cases of HCV infection. Their findings were explained by the influence of the ApoE genotype on HCV pathology, which seems to be integrally linked to the process of HCV uptake into hepatocytes. We investigated whether specific ApoE genotypes were associated with the different clinical aspects of HCV infection in patients with chronic HCV.
METHODS
From the whole blood of 196 chronic HCV hepatitis patients, the ApoE genotypes were determined by an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. Several markers, including liver enzymes, platelet counts and HCV viral loads, as well as the radiologic findings, were investigated. In order to estimate the treatment outcome, the sustained virologic response (SVR), early virologic response (EVR) and end-of-treatment response (ETR) were determined according to the HCV viral loads.
RESULTS
Based on genotyping, 15.8% (n=31) of the patients had the ApoE E4 allele (E2/E4, E3/E4, E4/E4), while 84.2% (n=165) were missing the ApoE E4 allele (E2/E2, E2/E3, E3/E3). Several clinical results of the E4-positive group, including liver enzymes, albumin, platelet counts, HCV viral loads and hepatic coarseness were not significantly different from those of E4-negative group. There were no differences in the SVR, EVR and ETR between patients with the ApoE E4 allele and those without the ApoE E4 allele.
CONCLUSION
There was no significant effect of the ApoE genotype on the clinical aspects of HCV infection and the anti-viral response, including SVR, EVR and ETR, in chronic HCV hepatitis patients.

Keyword

Apolipoprotein E genotype; Hepatitis C virus; Polymorphism

MeSH Terms

Alleles
Apolipoproteins
Apolipoproteins E
Genotype
Hepacivirus
Hepatitis
Hepatitis C, Chronic
Hepatitis, Chronic
Hepatocytes
Humans
Liver
Platelet Count
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Treatment Outcome
Viral Load
Apolipoproteins
Apolipoproteins E

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