Expression of transforming growth factor alpha in the liver before and after interferon alfa therapy for chronic hepatitis B

✍ Scribed by Dr Yosuke Morimitsu; David E. Kleiner Jr.; Hari S. Conjeevaram; Chu Chieh Hsia; Dr Adrian M. Di Bisceglie; Edward Tabor

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 672 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.1840220402

✦ Synopsis

The effect of interferon alfa (IFN-a) therapy on the expression of transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-a) in the liver during chronic hepatitis B was investigated. Serial liver biopsy specimens were evaluated from 35 patients who had participated in a randomized, controlled trial of recombinant human IFN-a for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Percutaneous liver biopsy specimens obtained before and 1 year after entry in the trial were sectioned and stained with a monoclonal antibody to TGF-a in an avidin-biotin-peroxidase-complex system. The expression of TGF-a in each section was evaluated blindly (with respect to treatment group and order of biopsies) and was numerically scored. There was no significant difference in TGF-a expression before or after therapy between 13 patients receiving daily IFNa, 13 receiving alternate-day IFN-a, and 9 receiving no therapy. Sustained clearance of HBV-DNA and DNA polymerase activity occurred in 8 of 26 treated patients ("responders"); the 18 other patients were "nonresponders." Expression of TGF-a before IFN-a therapy was significantly higher in responders than in nonresponders; after IFN-a therapy, TGF-a expression decreased significantly among responders compared with nonresponders and untreated controls. Thus, the level of expression of TGF-a in the liver, which was correlated with the severity of inflammation in the liver in this study, appeared to be predictive of the response to IFN-a therapy in chronic hepatitis B, with a higher level of expression indicating a greater likelihood that the patient would respond.