Effect of interferon λ3 gene polymorphisms, rs8099917 and rs12979860, on response to hepatitis B virus vaccination and hepatitis B or C virus infections among hemodialysis patients

INTRODUCTION    The higher prevalence and risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV)
infections are still observed in hemodialysis (HD) patients compared with healthy people. Interferons
(IFNs) are known for their involvement in immune response. The addition of IFN-λ3 to immunization in
animal models was shown to increase the immune response of T he lper-1 cells.
OBJECTIVES We studied whether polymorphisms of the IFN-λ3 gene (IFNL3) might be associated with
the development of antibodies to HBV surface antigen [anti-HBs] in response to the HBV vaccination or
HBV infection as well as spontaneous resolution of HCV infectio n in HD patients.
PATIENTS AND METHODS The HD group consisted of 806 individuals without a history of HBV or HCV
infection (of whom 672 developed anti-HBs in response to the HBV vaccination), 241 HBV-infected patients
(of whom 186 developed anti-HBs), and 63 HCV-infected patients (including 39 HCV RNA-positive
subjects). All patients were genotyped for IFNL3 rs8099917 and rs12979860 polymorphisms using a
high-resolution melting curve analysis.
RESULTS The comparison of responders and nonresponders to HBV vaccination revealed no significant
differences in the IFNL3 genotype distribution. In HBV-infected patients, the differences in the distribution
of IFNL3 variants between anti-HBs-negative and anti-HBs-positive patients were also nonsignificant.
Spontaneous HCV clearance was significantly less common in the carriers of the rs8099917 allele G or
rs12979860 allele T, while the CT rs12979860_rs8099917 haplotype was more frequent (P = 0.02) in
patients showing spontaneous HCV clearance.
CONCLUSIONS In HD patients, the IFNL3 polymorphisms do not affect anti-HBs development in response
to HBV infection or vaccination, but might be involved in the r esolution of HCV infection.