Hepatitis C virus and interferon resistance

Interferon plays an important role in human's defense against viral infection and the treatment of viral infection. Interferon is the only therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, like many other viruses, HCV is also resistant to interferon. Recent studies have shown that the persistence of HCV and the effectiveness of interferon treatment may be related to host's factors, HCV genotypes, HCV variance and some HCV proteins which could inhibit the antiviral activity of interferon.