Correlation between IL-28 polymorphism and spontaneous clearance in HCV patients: systematic review and meta-analysis

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a serious global health issue. Nearly 20% of HCV patients spontaneous clear the virus. While some studies have shown the association of spontaneous clearance (SC) of the virus with Interleukin (IL) 28B single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), others didn't show such a relationship. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of IL28B polymorphisms (12979860 SNP) and SC of HCV infection. Upon initial screening of the databases, a total of 545 articles were retrieved, of which 22 studies that met predefined eligibility criteria were entered into the meta-analysis. Odds ratios (OR) with its confidence intervals (95% CI), heterogeneity, publication bias, and sensitivity analysis were assessed. According to the meta-analysis results, a significant association was observed between the rs12979860 SNP and SC of HCV infection. The results indicated that the ORs of SC from hepatitis C virus infection were 2.75 times higher in those with cytokine gene polymorphisms, 95% CI (2.23 to 3.38). Moreover, it was found that the prevalence of rs12979860 CC was 0.33 with 95 CI (0.28–0.38) in genotype one and was 0.40 with 95 CI (0.34–0.47) in other genotypes. Our meta-analysis results suggest that IL28B rs12979860 CC is a strong predictor for SC of hepatitis C infection in PEG IFN-a/RBV-treated patients.