The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between the gene polymorphisms in interleukin-10 (IL-10)
and interferon gamma (IFN-g) genes with susceptibility and severity of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among
Egyptian patients. Interleukin-10 -592 A/C, -1082 G/A and IFN-g +874 T/A genotypes were determined in 100
chronic HCV patients and 50 healthy controls using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and the
amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) respectively. IL-10 -592 A/C
polymorphism genotyping revealed that the frequency of CC genotype was significantly higher in chronic HCV
patients than in controls (58% versus 30%, P < 0.05). Regarding IL-10 -1082 G/A polymorphism genotyping, a
higher frequency of GG genotype was found in chronic HCV patients compared to controls (31% versus 10%,
P < 0.05). IFN-g +874 T/A genotyping showed that TT genotype was significantly higher in chronic HCV participants
than controls (31%versus 18%, P< 0.05), while a higher frequency of T allele was found in cirrhotic patients
compared to noncirrhotic patients (P< 0.05).Our observations suggested that IL-10 -592 A/C, -1082 G/A, and IFN-g
+874 T/A polymorphisms had a strong association with susceptibility to HCV infection. However, no significant
association was observed between the cytokines (IL-10 and IFN-g) genotypes profile and HCV-liver cirrhosis risk
in the studied population, except for the high frequency of IFN-g +874 T allele in cirrhotic patients.