Objective:To explore the role of interleukin-28B during antiviral treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Methods:Anticoagulant whole blood of 46 patients with chronic hepatitis C were collected.Interleukin-28B single nucleotide polymorphism of rs8099917 genotype was tested by improved multiplex ligation detection reaction.At the same time,102 cases of serum samples were collected,including 46 cases of chronic hepatitis C before treatment and 44 cases of chronic hepatitis C after 12-week therapy,12 cases of healthy controls.The serum levels of interleukin-28B were examined by ELISA and the correlation of interleukin-28B with liver function was analyzed. Results:(1)rs8099917 TT genotype was 87.0%(40/46) and rs8099917 GT genotype was 13.0%(6/46) a-mong the 46 cases of chronic hepatitis C. There was no statistical significance in the serum levels of interleukin-28B between chronic hepatitis C group and healthy group,hepatitis C viral genotype 1b group and non-1b group,high viral load group and low viral load group,rs8099917 TT genotype group and GT genotype group(P>0.05). There was no correlation between serum interleukin-28B and aspartate aminotransferase,alanine aminotransferase,γ-glutamyl transferase,platelet.(2)There were significant differences in expres-sion of interleukin-28B among 44 patients with chronic hepatitis C after 12-week therapy,which was higher in the early virological response group than in non early virological response group(P=0.000). Conclusion:The rs8099917 genotypes of patients with chronic hepatitis C are mainly composed by TT genotype in Chongqing area.There is no significant difference in the levels of interleukin-28B between rs8099917 TT genotype group and rs8099917 GT genotype group,but the expression of interleukin-28B have ef-fect on early virological response.