Inhibition of subgenomic hepatitis C virus RNA in Huh-7 cells: ribavirin induces mutagenesis in HCV RNA

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major problem throughout the world. Combination therapy of interferon (IFN) and ribavirin is the best treatment for eradication at present, but the mechanism is not completely understood. We used the HCV replicon system to investigate this mechanism. The effects of six drugs (UDCA, glycyrrhizin, TJ-9, bezafibrate, ribavirin, and alpha-IFN 2b) on HCV subgenomic RNA (genotype 1b, NS5B 415Y) were examined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, cloning and sequencing. The HCV replication was inhibited by alpha-IFN 2b (7.39-13.2% at 10 U/mL, 3.29-6.12% at 100 U/mL, 1.3-4.86% at 1000 U/mL) and by ribavirin (4.36-13.9% at 100 mug/mL), but not by the other drugs at 24-72 h after treatment. Furthermore, the combination treatment was superior to IFN monotherapy and to ribavirin monotherapy at 72 h post-treatment. Sequence analyses of the double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR)-binding domain and flanking regions within the HCV NS5A region revealed that the total numbers of substitutions caused by ribavirin (n = 36) or combination treatment (n = 57) were more than those of IFN alone (n = 5) and controls (n = 6). The HCV replicon system is the most efficient system for HCV replication and is an excellent choice for testing anti-HCV drugs and disinfectants. Our results further suggested that the combination of alpha-IFN 2b and ribavirin might induce mutations, and inhibit HCV RNA synthesis in hepatocytes to a greater extent than ribavirin monotherapy.