TABLE 2.
Effect of IFN-α therapy on NS5A quasispecies in four patients tested before treatment and at the end of follow-up
| Patient | N prea | Mean genetic distance (SEM) within sampleb | N postc | Mean genetic distance (SEM) between sampled | Type of mutational changese
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SEM) synonymous | Mean (SEM) nonsynonymous | |||||
| 10 | 36 | 0.0643 (0.0021) | 37 | 0.0944 (0.0131)* | 0.2435 (0.0086) | 0.0216 (0.0016)*** |
| 11 | 34 | 0.0528 (0.0032) | 42 | 0.0610 (0.0007)* | 0.1621 (0.0051) | 0.0136 (0.0005)*** |
| 12 | 48 | 0.0371 (0.0023) | 48 | 0.0450 (0.0011)** | 0.2192 (0.0029) | 0.0172 (0.0007)*** |
| 13 | 36 | 0.0595 (0.0047) | 36 | 0.0936 (0.0018)*** | 0.3336 (0.0074) | 0.0356 (0.0021)*** |
a
Number of independent clones analyzed before treatment.
b
Quasispecies average within-sample genetic distances calculated before therapy.
c
Number of independent clones analyzed at the end of follow-up.
d
The between-sample mean genetic distance was compared to the pretreatment within-sample mean genetic distance by using a t test. See footnote e for an explanation of asterisks.
e
The proportion of synonymous substitutions per potential synonymous site was compared to the proportion of nonsynonymous mutations per nonsynonymous site among pre- and posttreatment samples by using a t test (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.0001).