Abstract

Objective: To analyze the response of male and female Hepatitis C and B infected patients to interferon therapy.
Methodology: This experimental study was conducted at Center for Research in Experimental and Applied Medicine (CREAM), Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from January 3, to April 4, 2017. Blood samples of 15 seropositive, coinfected patients of hepatitis B and C were collected. The primers specific for STAT-1 were designed based on the previously available sequences on National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), using different dry lab tools like Electronic PCR and Oligo Calc. Primers are compared with other software.
Results: All 15 coinfected patients were resistant to pegylated interferon therapy, which was administered twice weekly for six months. Fifteen subjects were healthy individuals, which were taken as controls. Among 15 coinfected patients, 13 were male and 2 females. Among healthy individuals, 7 were males and 8 were females. Their ages ranged between 27-54 years. Liver function tests (serum ALT, serum ALP, and serum bilirubin), HBV and HCV genotyping and blood complete picture were performed.
Conclusion: Most of the co-infected patients showed raised bilirubin and ALT levels. The most significant affected age group was 38-39 years. Elderly male patients were affected more with the virus as compared to females.

Key words: Hepatitis, Interferon, viruses