Upregulation of endogenous intrahepatic interferon stimulated genes during chronic hepatitis C virus infection

✍ Scribed by Gerry C. MacQuillan; Cyril Mamotte; William D. Reed; Gary P. Jeffrey; Jane E. Allan

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 163 KB
• Volume: 70
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.10381

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The success of interferon‐α and ribavirin combination therapy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C viral infection differs between patients. In an attempt to identify predictors of host response to therapy, the levels of mRNA for interferon (IFN) stimulated genes: MxA, PKR, 2′5′ OAS, ISG15, and interleukin 8 (IL‐8), were examined in liver by real‐time RT‐PCR prior to commencement of therapy. The levels of intrahepatic classical IFN stimulated genes, but not IL‐8, in chronic HCV disease (n = 44) were found to be significantly upregulated (P < 0.001) compared to the control cohort (n = 12). The genotype of the infecting HCV strain did not influence IFN stimulated gene expression. These results suggest that the endogenous type 1 IFN antiviral effector pathway is broadly activated during chronic HCV disease, although the levels of mRNA for any of the IFN‐stimulated genes tested did not predict the outcome of combination therapy. J. Med. Virol. 70: 219–227, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.