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Updated: May 24, 2026

An Advanced Murine Model for Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis in Association with Type 2 Diabetes
Published on: April 26, 2019
IL28B polymorphism is associated with fatty change in the liver of chronic hepatitis C patients
Mayu Ohnishi1, Masataka Tsuge, Tomohiko Kohno
1Programs for Biomedical Research, Division of Frontier Medical Science, Department of Gastroenterology and Metabolism, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
Background:
Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the interleukin 28B (IL28B) locus are associated with sustained viral response in chronic hepatitis C (HCV) patients who were treated with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) combination therapy. Recently, an association between γ-GTP level and IL28B genotype was identified. In this study, the relationship between IL28B genotype and liver steatosis was analyzed.
Methods:
One hundred fifty-three patients who underwent liver biopsy before PEG-IFN plus RBV combination therapy were enrolled. The level of liver steatosis was measured using a BIOREVO BZ-9000 microscope, and the proportion of fatty change and clear cell change were calculated using Dynamic cell count BZ-H1C software. IL28B SNP genotype (rs8099917) was determined using the Invader Assay.
Results:
Vesicular change was significantly associated with body mass index (BMI), HCV RNA titer, serum aspartate aminotransferase, γ-GTP, IL28B genotype and liver fibrosis level (P < 0.05). Clear cell change was significantly associated with serum aspartate aminotransferase, γ-GTP and IL28B genotype by univariate logistic regression analysis (P < 0.05). Under multiple logistic regression, IL28B genotype (OR(adj) = 8.158; 95% CI 2.412-27.589), liver fibrosis (OR(adj) = 2.541; 95% CI 1.040-6.207) and BMI (OR(adj) = 1.147; 95% CI 1.011-1.301) were significant independent factors for vesicular change and IL28B genotype (OR(adj) = 3.000; 95% CI 1.282-7.019) for clear cell change.
Conclusion:
In this study, a new quantitative method to objectively evaluate hepatic steatosis was described. IL28B genotypes were significantly associated with both vesicular and clear cell changes of livers in chronic hepatitis C patients.
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