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Gene is key to hepatitis treatment

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 17, 2009

NEW YORK - Scientists say they've found a reason why treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection works better for whites than for African-Americans. It's a tiny variation in a gene.

People with a certain gene variant are far more likely to respond to treatment, and that variant is more common in people with European ancestry than African-Americans, researchers report.

In fact, that probably explains about half the racial disparity in treatment response, the scientists estimate in a study published online Sunday by the journal Nature.

The work involved 1,137 patients who had a chronic infection with the most common type of hepatitis C virus found in the United States and Europe, one that is less responsive to treatment than other types. They were given standard drug treatment.

Analysis showed the treatment wiped out the virus in about 80 percent of study participants with the favorable genetic variant, compared with about 30 percent among those who lacked it.

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