Genetic variation in STAT4 predicts response to interferon-[alpha] therapy for hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B

Interferon (IFN)-[alpha] is a first-line therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients but only initiates a response in a minority of patients. A genetic variant, rs7574865 in STAT4, was recently reported to be associated with risk of developing CHB and hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma. We aimed to determine whether this variant is associated with the response to IFN[alpha] treatment for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive CHB patients. We studied 466 HBeAg-positive CHB patients who received either IFN[alpha]-2b (n = 224) or pegylated IFN[alpha]-2a (n = 242) therapy for 48 weeks and were followed for an additional 24 weeks. The rate of sustained virologic response (SVR), defined as HBeAg seroconversion along with hepatitis B virus DNA level