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Updated: May 18, 2026

A Protocol for Analyzing Hepatitis C Virus Replication
Published on: June 26, 2014
Variability of hepatitis C virus hypervariable region 1 (HVR-1) during the early phase of pegylated interferon and
K Caraballo Cortés1, T Laskus, I Bukowska-Ośko
1Department of Immunopathology of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland. kamila.caraballo@wum.edu.pl
Purpose:
Genetic variability of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is considered to be an important factor defining viral pathogenesis, persistence and resistance to treatment. The aim of the present study was to characterize HCV genetic heterogeneity within a hypervariable region 1 (HVR-1) before and during the early period of pegylated interferon alfa (PEG-IFN-α) and ribavirin treatment in correlation with treatment outcome.
Material And Methods:
The study involved 24 patients treated with PEG-IFN-α and ribavirin whose sera were collected before (baseline) and at 7, 14, 21 28 and 56 day of treatment. HCV HVR-1 region was amplified by nested RT- PCR and subjected to SSCP (single strand conformational polymorphism) analysis. SSCP changes of HCV HVR-1 over time in each patient were compared to treatment outcome results.
Results:
In 2/11 (18%) SVR+ and 8/13 (62%) SVR- treated patients, HVR-1 genetic changes manifested by new SSCP bands (new genetic variants) and were significantly more frequent in nonresponders (P <0.05).
Conclusions:
Our results indicate that HCV HVR-1 variability during the early phase of PEG-IFN-α and ribavirin therapy may be predictive of treatment outcome.
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