Effect of IL15 rs10833 and SCARB1 rs10846744 on virologic responses in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin

The scavenger receptor type B class I (SCARBI) is known to be involved in the entry of hepatitis C virus (HCV) into the host, while interleukin-15 (IL15) is an important cytokine in both the innate and acquired immune responses against HCV infection. We investigated the association of IL15 rs10833 or SCARB1 rs10846744 polymorphisms with treatment responses in patients with chronic HCV (CHC). SCARB1 rs10846744 and IL15 rs10833 were identified in 365 treatment-naïve CHC patients through genotyping by TaqMan® Real-Time PCR and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), respectively. Of these 365 CHC treatment-naïve patients, rapid virological response (RVR), complete early virological response (cEVR), and sustained virological response (SVR) were observed in 53.2%, 76.4%, and 66.0% of the patients, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that RVR was associated with sex (P = 0.016), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P = 0.026), IL15 rs10833 (AA) genotype (P < 0.001), and SCARB1 rs10846744 (CC) genotype (P < 0.001), while there was a relationship between alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P = 0.013) and IL15 rs10833 (AA) genotype (P < 0.001) with cEVR. Age (< 40 years) (P = 0.001), AST (P = 0.029), ALP (P = 0.028), HCV genotypes (P = 0.005), HCV viral load (P = 0.026), IL15 rs10833 (AA) genotype (P < 0.001), and SCARB1 rs10846744 (CC) genotype (P = 0.001) were strongly associated with SVR. In conclusion, the SCARB1 rs10846744 (CC) and IL15 rs10833 (AA) genotypes can be considered as powerful predictors of treatment responses in CHC patients treated with an interferon-based therapy.