Mutation Analysis of Protein Kinase Binding Domain of HCV NS5A Gene Isolated from Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

The majority of hepatitis C virus (HCV) isolates are resistant to antiviral therapy. Although, the molecular mechanisms of resistance against to antiviral therapy were investigated in such studies in vivo and/or in vitro and the significant results were obtained, the resistance problem has not been solved yet. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between therapy and response by detecting the mutations in ISDR2209-2248 and PKR-BD2209-2274 site among HCV positive patients in Gaziantep. Fifty nine patients (25 men and 34 women) with chronic hepatitis C diagnosed at Gastroenterology Department of Gaziantep University Sahinbey Research Hospital between 2009-2010 years were included. The 59 HCV RNA positive patients: 34 women and 25 men were included. In ISDR2209-2248 site in PKR-BD2209-2274 site, 25 of 89 amino-acid substitutions (28.09%) of the sustained virologic responder patients; 12 of 78 amino-acid substitutions (15.38%) in the non-responder patients were determined. The significant relation between the number of mutation in interferon sensitivity determining region- ISDR2209-2248 and protein kinase binding domain- PKR-BD2209-2274 of NS5A gene and the response to interferon-alpha+ribavirin combination therapy was not determined (p>0.05). The number of mutation in this region was not significant in predicting the response of chronic hepatitis C patients to the treatment. The evaluation of age, individual immunization, nutritional situations, psychological situation of people infected with HCV and other gene regions would be useful.