Analysis of Genotype 1b Hepatitis C Virus IRES in Serum and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Patients Treated with Interferon and Ribavirin

Table 3

Analysis of HCV 5′UTR mutations developing during treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

Patient	Time point  of new variant appearance (weeks)	Mutation	Position	Region	SVR	Localization		Effect on ΔG (kcal/mol)**
						PBMC	Serum
1*	60	C-U	104	IIb	+		1	Increased
2	8	A-U	119	ssRNA	−		1	No effect
	24	C-U	121	ssRNA	−		1	No effect
3	24	A-U	119	ssRNA	−	1		Increased
		C-U	183	IIIb
		A-G	244	IIIc
		G-U	261	IIId
		G-U	271
4	4	A-G	142	IIIa	−	1		Decreased
5	8	U-G	263	IIId	−	1	1	Increased
		U-G	271
		U-G	273
		C-A	274
		U-G	277
6*	60	C-U	183	IIIb	+	1		Decreased
		A-G	233	IIIc
7	8	C-U	183	IIIb	−		1	Decreased
	8	C-U	183	IIIb		1		Increased
		G del	146	IIIa
8	16	C-U	183	IIIb	−	1		Decreased
		A-G	243	IIIc
	24	A-C	109	IIb		1		No effect
		C-U	183	IIIb				Decreased
		A-G	243	IIIc
		U-C	104	IIb
9*	16	G-U	188	IIIb	−	1		Decreased
		A ins.	206	IIIb				Increased
				IIIc
		A-G	233	IIIb
		G-A	107	IIIc
				IIb
		G-A	243	IIIc
	60						1	No effect
	72					1	1	No effect

SVR, sustained virological response; PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell.
*Novel variants emerging after treatment (weeks 60 and 72).
**Increased ΔG implies lower stability, whereas decreased ΔG entails higher stability.