Assessment of pro-inflammatory cytokines in sera of patients with hepatitis C virus infection before and after anti-viral therapy

Introduction: A number of cytokines have been implicated in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver disease. This study aimed to assess the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in patients with HCV infection before (naïve) and after successful treatment (sustained responders) with Pegylated inte...

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Main Authors: Abdulkarim Alhetheel, Ahmed Albarrag, Zahid Shakoor, Khalid Alswat, Ayman Abdo, Waleed Al-hamoudi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2016-10-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/7595
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author Abdulkarim Alhetheel
Ahmed Albarrag
Zahid Shakoor
Khalid Alswat
Ayman Abdo
Waleed Al-hamoudi
author_facet Abdulkarim Alhetheel
Ahmed Albarrag
Zahid Shakoor
Khalid Alswat
Ayman Abdo
Waleed Al-hamoudi
author_sort Abdulkarim Alhetheel
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: A number of cytokines have been implicated in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver disease. This study aimed to assess the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in patients with HCV infection before (naïve) and after successful treatment (sustained responders) with Pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Methodology: The present study included 19 naïve HCV patients and 8 sustained responders. Additionally, 20 healthy individuals were included as a control group. The serum levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-8 (IL-8), IL-6, IL-10, IL-1β, and IL-12p70 were measured using flow cytometry. Results: The serum IL-8 levels were significantly higher in the naïve group (21.5±10.7 pg/mL; p = 0.02) than in the control group (14.1±1.7 pg/mL) and the sustained responder group (10.4±6.2 pg/mL; p = 0.002). The serum IL-6 levels were significantly higher in the naïve group (7.3±2.06 pg/mL; p = 0.02) than in the control group (5.9±1.01 pg/mL) whereas IL-6 in sustained responder group (6.4±1.5 pg/mL) was no different than naïve HCV patients or the controls. The serum IL-10 levels were significantly higher in the naïve group (4.42±0.64 pg/mL) than in the control group (3.6±0.34 pg/mL; p =0.0002) and not the sustained responder group (4.1±0.86 pg/mL). Moreover, the serum IL-12p70 levels were higher in the sustained responder group (3.43±0.84 pg/mL; p =0.05) than in the control group (2.76±0.83 pg/mL). There were no differences in the serum IL-1β levels among the groups. Conclusion: Successful anti-viral therapy against HCV was associated with significant reductions in the serum IL-8 levels and skewing of the pretreatment Th2 dominant immune response to the Th1 response.
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spelling doaj-art-62dd7359ba92450fac695d2600331d4e2025-08-20T02:57:13ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802016-10-01101010.3855/jidc.7595Assessment of pro-inflammatory cytokines in sera of patients with hepatitis C virus infection before and after anti-viral therapyAbdulkarim Alhetheel0Ahmed Albarrag1Zahid Shakoor2Khalid Alswat3Ayman Abdo4Waleed Al-hamoudi5King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaKing Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaKing Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaKing Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaKing Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaKing Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaIntroduction: A number of cytokines have been implicated in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver disease. This study aimed to assess the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in patients with HCV infection before (naïve) and after successful treatment (sustained responders) with Pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Methodology: The present study included 19 naïve HCV patients and 8 sustained responders. Additionally, 20 healthy individuals were included as a control group. The serum levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-8 (IL-8), IL-6, IL-10, IL-1β, and IL-12p70 were measured using flow cytometry. Results: The serum IL-8 levels were significantly higher in the naïve group (21.5±10.7 pg/mL; p = 0.02) than in the control group (14.1±1.7 pg/mL) and the sustained responder group (10.4±6.2 pg/mL; p = 0.002). The serum IL-6 levels were significantly higher in the naïve group (7.3±2.06 pg/mL; p = 0.02) than in the control group (5.9±1.01 pg/mL) whereas IL-6 in sustained responder group (6.4±1.5 pg/mL) was no different than naïve HCV patients or the controls. The serum IL-10 levels were significantly higher in the naïve group (4.42±0.64 pg/mL) than in the control group (3.6±0.34 pg/mL; p =0.0002) and not the sustained responder group (4.1±0.86 pg/mL). Moreover, the serum IL-12p70 levels were higher in the sustained responder group (3.43±0.84 pg/mL; p =0.05) than in the control group (2.76±0.83 pg/mL). There were no differences in the serum IL-1β levels among the groups. Conclusion: Successful anti-viral therapy against HCV was associated with significant reductions in the serum IL-8 levels and skewing of the pretreatment Th2 dominant immune response to the Th1 response. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/7595Pro-inflammatory cytokineshepatitis C virusanti-viral therapy
spellingShingle Abdulkarim Alhetheel
Ahmed Albarrag
Zahid Shakoor
Khalid Alswat
Ayman Abdo
Waleed Al-hamoudi
Assessment of pro-inflammatory cytokines in sera of patients with hepatitis C virus infection before and after anti-viral therapy
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Pro-inflammatory cytokines
hepatitis C virus
anti-viral therapy
title Assessment of pro-inflammatory cytokines in sera of patients with hepatitis C virus infection before and after anti-viral therapy
title_full Assessment of pro-inflammatory cytokines in sera of patients with hepatitis C virus infection before and after anti-viral therapy
title_fullStr Assessment of pro-inflammatory cytokines in sera of patients with hepatitis C virus infection before and after anti-viral therapy
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of pro-inflammatory cytokines in sera of patients with hepatitis C virus infection before and after anti-viral therapy
title_short Assessment of pro-inflammatory cytokines in sera of patients with hepatitis C virus infection before and after anti-viral therapy
title_sort assessment of pro inflammatory cytokines in sera of patients with hepatitis c virus infection before and after anti viral therapy
topic Pro-inflammatory cytokines
hepatitis C virus
anti-viral therapy
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/7595
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