ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE： To study the correlation of HLA-DP gene polymorphisms with the immune response to antiviral treatment for hepatitis C virus （HCV） patients. METHODS： A total of 106 HCV Han-nationality patients were collected from our hospital during May 2013 to Aug 2017. All patients received PEG IFNα+ribavirin （RBV） for 48 weeks， and then 24 week follow-up after drug withdrawal. Age， body weight and baseline level of HCV-RNA were recorded. The typing of rs3077 and rs2395309 site of HLA-DP gene were detected by RT-qPCR with Taqman-MGB fluorescent probe. According to treatment outcome， the patients were divided into two groups such as sustained viral response （SVR） group and no-sustained viral response （N-SVR） group. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed for influential factors （gender， age， body weight index， HCV-RNA baseline level， gene polymorphisms） of immune response to antiviral treatment for HCV patients with Logistic regression model. RESULTS： Among 106 patients， the frequencies of CC， CT and TT genotype at rs3077 site were 40.6％， 35.8％ and 23.6％； those of GG， GA and AA genotype at rs2395309 site were 50.0％， 39.6％， 10.4％， respectively， which were in line with Hardy-Weinberg genetic balance （P＞0.05）. Totally 80 HCV patients were obtained in SVR group， and 26 HCV patients in N-SVR group. The patient’s age， the proportion of CT and TT genotype of rs3077 site and GA and AA genotype of rs2395309 site in SVR group were significantly lower than N-SVR group. The proportion of CC genotype at rs3077 site and GG genotype at rs2395309 site were significantly higher than N-SVR group （P＜0.05）. There was no statistical significance in gender， body weight index or HCV-RNA baseline level between 2 groups （P＞0.05）. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that gender， body mass index， HCV-RNA baseline level， CC genotype at rs3077 site and GG genotype at rs2395309 site were not related to the immune response to antiviral treatment （P＞0.05）. Age， CT and TT genotype at rs3077 site， GA and AA genotype at rs2395309 site were associated with the immune response to antiviral therapy [OR were 1.135， 1.766， 1.283， 1.218， 1.103， 95％CI were （1.017，1.267）， （1.007，3.100）， （1.038，1.585）， （1.011，1.467）， （1.038，1.172）， respectively， P＜0.05]. CONCLUSIONS： Age and the polymorphisms of HLA-DP gene at rs3077 and rs2395309 site are related to immune response to PEG IFNα+RBV antiviral treatment for HCV Han-nationality patients. Young patients may have higher antiviral immune response rate， while carriers with T and A mutation alleles may have lower antiviral immune response rate.