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Table 1 Baseline patient characteristics (n = 348)

From: Erythropoietin rs1617640 G allele associates with an attenuated rise of serum erythropoietin and a marked decline of hemoglobin in hepatitis C patients undergoing antiviral therapy

Female sex, n (%)

126 (36)

Age [median (IQR)] years

50 (43 – 58)

Ethnicity Caucasian, n (%)

346 (99)

HCV genotype 1/2/3 (%)

240/25/83 (69/7/24)

ALT [median (IQR)] U/l

49 (28 – 86)

Hb [median (IQR)] g/dl

15.1 (14.2 – 16)

Creatinine [median (IQR)] mg/dl

0.8 (0.7 – 0.9)

EPO# [median (IQR)] mIU/ml*

7.8 (6 – 10.5)

Hepatitis activity mild, n (%)

170 (68)

Fibrosis absent or mild, n (%)

201 (81)

Severe Fibrosis or Cirrhosis1, n (%)

631 (18)

Steatosis absent or mild, n (%)

224 (90)

Initial daily RBV dose2, n (%)

  800 mg

37 (10)

  1.000 mg

125 (36)

  1.200 mg

110 (32)

  1.400 mg

76 (21)

PEG-IFN-α treatment, n (%)

  PEG-IFN-α2a

238 (68)

  PEG-IFN-α2b 1.0 μg/kg

30 (9)

  PEG-IFN-α2b 1.5 μg/kg

80 (23)

SVR by genotype 1/2/3, n (%)

101/20/68 (42/80/82)

EPO rs1617640 TT/TG/GG, n (%)

113/168/67 (33/48/19)

ITPA rs1127354 CC/CA/AA, n (%)

280/66/2 (80/19/1)

  1. Data are given as median and interquartile range, if not indicated otherwise. 249 patients undergone histological evaluation; #Pretreatment serum EPO measurement was available in 181 patients: *Normal range: 3.3-16.6 mIU/ml; 148 patients with histological signs of severe fibrosis or cirrhosis and 15 patients with clinical, biochemical and imaging evidence of severe fibrosis or cirrhosis. 2Initial daily RBV dose was weight-based on a sliding scale in subjects’ baseline weight. Abbreviations: HCV hepatitis C virus, γ-GT gamma-glutamyltransferase, ALT alanine transaminase, RBV ribavirin, PEG-IFN-α pegylated interferon-α, SVR sustained virological response, EPO erythropoietin, ITPA inosine triphosphatase.