文摘
Background Genome-wide association studies have revealed several single-nucleotide polymorphisms around interleukin 28B (IL28B) that are strongly associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance. However, their predictive value is not perfect, which suggests that other genetic factors may also be involved in HCV clearance. We previously reported a wide variation in the length of a thymine–adenine (TA) dinucleotide repeat in the promoter region of IL28B and that the transcriptional activity of the promoter increased gradually in a TA repeat length-dependent manner.