Curative effects of interferon-α and HLA-DRB1 -DQA1 and -DQB1 alleles in chronic viral hepatitis B

AIM: To investigate the association between curative effects of interferon-alpha and partial human leucocyte antigen (HLA) II alleles in chronic viral hepatitis B. METHODS: Sixty patients with chronic viral hepatitis B in Shanghai were treated with a standard course of treatment with interferon-alpha for 6 mo. HLA-DRB1, -DQA1, and -DQB1 alleles were detected by polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) method. RESULTS: Frequencies of HLA-DRB1*04 (P<0.025) and HLA-DQA1*0303 (P<0.01) in non-responders were significantly higher than those in partial and complete responders. Frequencies of HLA-DQA1*0505 (P<0.025) and HLA-DQB1*0301 (P<0.005) in partial and complete responders were significantly higher than those in non-responders. CONCLUSION: Non-response to interferon-alpha therapy is positively correlated with HLA-DRB1*04 and HLA-DQA1*0303, and negatively correlated with HLA-DQA1*0505 and -DQB1*0301 in patient with chronic viral hepatitis B. HLA II genes of the identification alleles provide a method for evaluating outcome of interferon-alpha treatment.