1Jehan A. M. El-Sharnooby., 1Amani M. Abou El-Enein., 2Mona A. H. Shehata. and 3Amr M. El. Shafie.
Departments of 1Clinical Pathology, 2Tropical Medicine and 3Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University.
The capacity for interleukin-10 (IL-10) production varies among individuals and this has been ascribed to polymorphisms within the regulatory regions of IL-10 gene. We examined the inheritance of 3 biallelic polymophisms in the IL-10 gene promoter in patients with chronic hepatitis C and their association with response to treatment with interferon alfa (IFN- α). Significant relationship was found between inheritance of the IL-10 promoter –592*A and –819*T alleles and response to IFN-α. Response to treatment was also associated with viral genotype 4a, a low viral load, and less fibrosis on liver biopsy. The IL-10 promoter haplotypes, GCC, ACC, and ATA, were associated with high, intermediate, and low IL-10 production, respectively. These findings indicate that heterogeneity in the promoter region of IL-10 gene has a role in determining the response of patients with chronic hepatitis C to IFN-α therapy. Patients who are genetically predisposed to high IL-10 production have poor response to IFN-α and may benefit from additional treatment strategies designed to enhance a T- helper type 1(Th1) response.