Spontaneous viral load decline and subsequent clearance of chronic hepatitis c virus in postpartum women correlates with favorable interleukin-28B gene allele

Mohamed Hashem, Ravi Jhaveri, Doa'a A. Saleh, Sahar A. Sharaf, Fatma El-Mougy, Lobna Abdelsalam, Michelle D. Shardell, Hesham El-Ghazaly, Samer S. El-Kamary*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background. Postpartum hepatitis C viral (HCV) load decline followed by spontaneous clearance has been previously described. Herein we identify predictors for viral decline in a cohort of HCV-infected postpartum women. Methods. Pregnant women at Cairo University were screened for anti-HCV antibodies and HCV RNA, and viremic women were tested for quantitative HCV RNA at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postpartum. Spontaneous clearance was defined as undetectable viremia twice at least 6-months apart. Associations between viral load and demographic, obstetrical, HCV risk factors, and interleukin- 28B gene (IL28B) polymorphism (rs12979860) were assessed. Results. Of 2514 women, 97 (3.9%) had anti-HCV antibodies, 54 (2.1%) were viremic and of those, 52 (2.1%) agreed to IL28B testing. From pregnancy until 12 months postpartum, IL28B-CC allele women had a significant viral decline (P = .009). After adjusting, the IL28B-CC allele had a near significant difference compared to the CT allele (odds ratio [OR], 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75,1.00; P = .05), but not the TT allele (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.61,1.38; P = .64). All 14/52 (26.9%) women who subsequently cleared were among the 15 with undetectable viremia at 12 months, making that time point a strong predictor of subsequent clearance (sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 97.4%, positive predictive value = 93.3%, negative predictive value = 100%). Conclusions. In this HCV-infected cohort of postpartum women 26.9% spontaneously cleared. IL28B-CC genotype and 12-month postpartum undetectable viremia were the best predictors for viral decline and subsequent clearance. These 2 predictors should influence clinical decision making.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)999-1005
Number of pages7
JournalClinical Infectious Diseases
Volume65
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 15 2017

Funding

Financial support. This work was supported by a grant from the US– Egypt Science and Technology Joint Fund and the Egyptian Science and Technology Development Fund (grant 4586 to S. S. E-K. and H. E-G.) and a grant from the Merck Investigator Studies Program (to R. J.). This research also benefited from a 2010 Duke Global Health Institute Travel Award (to R. J.).

Keywords

  • Hepatitis c virus
  • IL28B
  • Pregnancy
  • Spontaneous clearance
  • Viral clearance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Infectious Diseases

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