Hepatitis C virus NS5A region mutation in chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 patients who are non-responders to two or more treatments and its relationship with response to a new treatment

Table 5 Variation in the viral population of the PKR binding domain and interferon-sensitivity-determining region regions of NS5A over time and its relationship with the response to treatment n (%)

PKRBD (n = 119)	NVR, n = 74	SVR, n = 45	P value1	ISDR, n = 122	NVR, n = 77	SVR, n = 45	P value1
Mutations increase by ≥ 2, n = 24	10 (42)	14 (58)	0.02	Mutations increase by ≥ 2, n = 22	7 (32)	15 (68)	0.001
No such increase2, n = 95	64 (67)	31 (33)		No such increase2, n = 100	70 (70)	30 (30)

¹χ² test.

²Genetic variability increases when the number of mutations increases by 2 or more (22, 23, 30), while the viral population does not vary if the number of mutations remains unchanged, increases by only 1, or decreases. NVR: No virological response; SVR: Sustained virological response; PKRBD: PKR binding domain; ISDR: Interferon-sensitivity-determining region.