Afzal Muhammad Sohail
Muhammad Sohail Afzal, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, University of Management and Technology, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
World J Hepatol. 2016 Sep 18;8(26):1116-8. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v8.i26.1116.
In Pakistan which ranked second in terms of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, it is highly needed to have an established diagnostic test for antiviral therapy response prediction. Interleukin 28B (IL-28B) genetic testing is widely used throughout the world for interferon based therapy prediction for HCV patients and is quite helpful not only for health care workers but also for the patients. There is a strong relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms at or near the IL-28B gene and the sustained virological response with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin treatment for chronic hepatitis C. Pakistan is a resource limited country, with very low per capita income and there is no proper social security (health insurance) system. The allocated health budget by the government is very low and is used on other health emergencies like polio virus and dengue virus infection. Therefore it is proposed that there should be a well established diagnostic test on the basis of IL-28B which can predict the antiviral therapy response to strengthen health care set-up of Pakistan. This test once established will help in better management of HCV infected patients.
在丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染率位居第二的巴基斯坦，非常需要一种成熟的诊断测试来预测抗病毒治疗反应。白细胞介素28B（IL-28B）基因检测在全球范围内被广泛用于预测HCV患者基于干扰素的治疗效果，这不仅对医护人员有很大帮助，对患者也很有帮助。IL-28B基因或其附近的单核苷酸多态性与聚乙二醇干扰素联合利巴韦林治疗慢性丙型肝炎的持续病毒学应答之间存在密切关系。巴基斯坦是一个资源有限的国家，人均收入很低，而且没有完善的社会保障（医疗保险）体系。政府分配的卫生预算非常低，且用于应对其他卫生紧急情况，如脊髓灰质炎病毒和登革热病毒感染。因此，建议基于IL-28B建立一种成熟的诊断测试，以预测抗病毒治疗反应，从而加强巴基斯坦的医疗保健体系。一旦建立该测试，将有助于更好地管理HCV感染患者。
