Pretreatment Hepatitis C Virus NS5A/NS5B Resistance-Associated Substitutions in Genotype 1 Uruguayan Infected Patients

Aldunate, Fabián; Echeverría, Natalia; Chiodi, Daniela; López, Pablo; Sánchez-Cicerón, Adriana; Fajardo, Alvaro; Soñora, Martín; Cristina, Juan; Hernández, Nelia; Moreno, Pilar

These results show both diversity in the baseline polymorphisms found in different Latin American countries and in the evolutionary relationships of Uruguayan isolates ( Figure 2 ). This fact could be linked not only to the isolates' geographic region and viral intrinsic characteristics but also to the genetic background of the host. It is worth mentioning that we live in a vast continent inhabited by populations with different genotypic characteristics that might, depending on the situation, require different approaches to treatment. Indeed, we have recently found that allele and genotype frequencies at IL28B locus of Uruguayan individuals closely resemble those of an admixed population rather than a uniformly European-descendant one [59] . Altogether, we believe that it could be important to carry out studies throughout the South American region in order to establish the prevalence of RASs in NS5A and NS5B in different countries. In fact, this will aid in understanding that not every treatment regimen might be adequate for every patient and country. The data we presented here might guide not only physicians in making therapeutic decisions but also public health authorities in approving more diverse treatment combinations. These treatment formulations would cover most of the circulating strains in our region, a region with an extremely diverse genetic background population.