Oľga Janíčková, Igor Šťastný, Juraj Gašparovič
Infection by hepatitis C virus is considered to be a serious medical problem, particularly as it may lead to liver cirrhosis
and hepatocellular carcinoma. To date, the known 6 genotypes of hepatitis C virus, the highest share has the genotype
1 (G1), which is also the most difficult to treat. Currently, the most effective treatment is administration of direct acting
antivirals (DAAS) without interferon (interferon free). Its target, non-structural proteins of the HCV genome, which interfere
with the replication cycle of the virus and blocking it. A combination of two or three DAAs leads to cure HCV infection
in more than 90% of patients (achieving SVR in 12 weeks), including the patients who were previously refractory.
The likelihood of spontaneous recovery and treatment success are influenced by many factors such as coming from the
virus as well as the host. One such factors is the single nucleotide polymorphism -3176C/T (rs12979860) in human gene
for interleukin 28 B (IL28B). Individuals with genotype C/C achieve 2-3 times higher sustained virological response
than patients with genotype T/T. The aim of study was detection genotype IL28B and monitor his prevalence in patients
with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 in Slovakia. Final set of 428 patients considered of 244 males and 184 females,
with the highest frequency of occurrence has the genotype C/T (250 patients), lower frequency of genotype C/C (106
patients) and lowest presence of the genotype was T/T genotype (72 patients). One of the objectives was to determine
the frequency of each allele in this group of patients (allele frequency C-0.54 and T-0.46). We have also identified genotypes
represented in the various age groups.