HCV RNA levels in a multiethnic cohort of injection drug users: human genetic, viral and demographic associations.

ABSTRACT:

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In patients with chronic hepatitis C, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA level is an important predictor of treatment response. To explore the relationship of HCV RNA with viral and demographic factors, as well as IL28B genotype, we examined viral levels in an ethnically diverse group of injection drug users (IDUs). Between 1998 and 2000, the Urban Health Study (UHS) recruited IDUs from street settings in San Francisco Bay area neighborhoods. Participants who were positive by HCV enzyme immunoassay were tested for HCV viremia by a branched-chain DNA assay. HCV genotype was determined by sequencing the HCV nonstructural 5B protein region. For a subset of participants, IL28B rs12979860 genotype was determined by Taqman. Among 1,701 participants with HCV viremia, median age wa

SUBMITTER: Uccellini L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3369001 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature