Expression of interferon alpha/beta receptor in the liver of chronic hepatitis C patients

✍ Scribed by Mizukoshi, Eishiro; Kaneko, Shuichi; Yanagi, Masayuki; Ohno, Hideki; Kaji, Kyosuke; Terasaki, Shuichi; Shimoda, Atsushi; Matsushita, Eiki; Kobayashi, Kenichi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 251 KB
• Volume: 56
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199811)56:3<217::aid-jmv7>3.0.co;2-a

✦ Synopsis

Interferon (IFN) demonstrates antiviral activity by binding to receptors on the cell surface. Expression of the IFN receptor in hepatocytes may be directly associated with a hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the response to IFN therapy. A competitive PCR method was developed to measure IFN alpha/beta (␣/␤) receptor mRNA in liver samples obtained by needle biopsy. Thirty-one patients with chronic hepatitis C (21 without cirrhosis, 10 with cirrhosis) and six normal subjects were used. Eighteen of the 21 patients without cirrhosis received the IFN therapy. Competitive PCR was carried out using IFN ␣/␤ receptor gene-specific primers and a specific competitor. Expression of the receptor was detected in all liver samples. There was no association between the expression level and serum alanine aminotransferase level, serum (2Ј-5Ј) oligo (A) synthetase level, amount of serum HCV RNA, or HCV genotype. The expression level in patients with chronic hepatitis was significantly higher than that in normal livers (P < 0.05) and in cirrhotic livers (P < 0.01). Seven of the 18 patients treated with IFN demonstrated a sustained response to IFN (sustained responders), and the remaining 11 did not (nonsustained responders). The expression level of IFN ␣/␤ receptor mRNA in the sustained responders was significantly higher than that in the nonsustained responders (P < 0.01). Thus, the expression of IFN ␣/␤ receptor mRNA may be one of the host factors influencing the response to IFN therapy.