High diversity of hepatitis C viral quasispecies is associated with early virological response in patients undergoing antiviral therapy.

ABSTRACT:

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Differential response patterns to optimal antiviral therapy, peginterferon alpha plus ribavirin, are well documented in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Among many factors that may affect therapeutic efficiency, HCV quasispecies (QS) characteristics have been a major focus of previous studies, yielding conflicting results. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the role of HCV QS in antiviral therapy, we performed the largest-ever HCV QS analysis in 153 patients infected with HCV genotype 1 strains. A total of 4,314 viral clones spanning hypervarible region 1 were produced from these patients during the first 12 weeks of therapy, followed by detailed genetic analyses. Our data show an exponential distribution pattern of intrapatient QS diversi

SUBMITTER: Fan X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2911951 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature