However, immunogenetic influence has been poorly investigated and mainly confined to HLA-class

II serological polymorphisms, because of their central role in the adaptive response. Nevertheless, it has been suggested that the role of the immune defense system, as well as the relevance of the genetic background, could better explain the pathogenesis of HCV infection, and these factors have been examined.10, 11 In adult patients, genetic variations in the IL28B gene, an innate cytokine, have been associated with the response to IFN-α/ribavirin therapy and spontaneous clearance in HCV genotype 1.26-28 For this reason, we evaluated the role of Quizartinib mw IL28B polymorphism in HCV genotype 1 vertical transmission, transient viremia, and chronic infection in infants. This is the first study that attempts to describe both HCV-VT and the spontaneous clearance of HCV, taking into account the influence Selleck Sotrastaurin of IL28B polymorphism

in mothers and children. The data obtained indicate that the IL28B genotype of mothers and children does not influence HCV-VT. Nevertheless, in the chronic infection study, 83% of the infants with the CC genotype exhibited spontaneous clearance (transient viremia) versus only 22% of the children with a non-CC genotype. On the other hand, the maternal IL28B genotype did not influence HCV chronic infection. Multivariate analysis identified the infant’s Rs12979860 CC IL28B genotype as the only factor independently associated with the spontaneous clearance Prostatic acid phosphatase of HCV. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first one to identify IL28B Rs12979860 polymorphism as a predictor of HCV spontaneous clearance in infants infected with HCV genotype 1 by vertical transmission. More information is now needed to understand the mechanisms that underlie this association, as well as the clinical impact of IL28B polymorphisms on HCV infection. The multivariate

analysis performed clearly shows the distinction between the risk factors in HCV-VT and in chronic infection. In HCV-VT, a high HCV viral load was independently associated with HCV-VT, thus confirming the bivariate analysis and the data previously published, by ourselves and by others. These data suggest that the maternal characteristics are more important in HCV-VT than are those of the infants. However, in the chronic HCV infection study, the multivariate analysis showed that the only factor independently associated with HCV clearance was the infants’ IL28B genotype, which confirmed our hypothesis that in infected infants the host’s immunogenic influence is crucial to the HCV viral response. Finally, all retrospective analyses have inherent limitations, but we have tried to minimize their effects.