IL-28B polymorphisms and treatment response in hepatitis C virus patients with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase

Table 2 Baseline characteristics of hepatitis C virus-infected patients, according to interleukin 28B single-nucleotide polymorphism rs8099917

IL-28B rs8099917	PNALT group (n = 100)			Abnormal ALT group (n = 178)
	Major	Minor	P value	Major	Minor	P value
Number of patients	70	30		119	59
Age (yr)	57.7 ± 10.8	52.6 ± 10.5	0.031	55.3 ± 11.3	55.4 ± 12.3	0.95
Gender (male/female)	21/49	10/20	0.92	68/51	37/22	0.58
AST (IU/L)	29.3 ± 13.1	30.9 ± 9.7	0.58	69.4 ± 51.4	75.4 ± 44.1	0.47
ALT (IU/L)	26.8 ± 7.2	29.5 ± 7.0	0.086	92.1 ± 70.4	99.5 ± 67.8	0.5
γ-GT (IU/L)	21.0 ± 11.5	38.4 ± 33.8	0.00069	54.0 ± 41.3	85.1 ± 95.7	0.0056
WBC (/mm3)	5130 ± 1440	4900 ± 1640	0.52	5280 ± 1,680	5230 ± 1070	0.84
Hemoglobin (g/dL)	13.3 ± 1.0	13.9 ± 1.5	0.02	15.3 ± 10.8	14.4 ± 1.1	0.52
Platelets (× 104/mm3)	17.2 ± 5.7	18.8 ± 6.3	0.21	17.0 ± 5.3	16.4 ± 5.8	0.49
Previous treatment (-/+)	54/16	21/9	0.61	93/26	43/16	0.55
VR/Null response	63/7	21/9	0.027	98/21	31/23	0.000059
RVR (+/-)	9/50	3/20	0.92	17/84	3/46	0.12
EVR (+/-)	38/21	8/15	0.029	59/44	11/38	0.00011
SVR (+/-)	44/26	12/18	0.058	67/52	20/39	0.0079

Data are expressed as the mean ± SD. P values are for comparisons between the major genotype group and minor genotype group among the persistent normal alanine aminotransferase (PNALT) group or among abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) group by Student’s t-test or the χ² test. AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; γ-GT: Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase; WBC: White blood cell count; IL-28B: Interleukin 28B; Maj: Major genotype; Min: Minor genotype; VR: Virologic response; RVR: Rapid virologic response; EVR: Early virologic response; SVR: Sustained virologic response.