HCV RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMCs] as a predictor of the response to antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis C

Hepatitis C virus [HCV] has been found to infect peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMCs], using them as a reservoir, which might contribute to the development of resistance to treatment. To study hepatitis virus C [HCV] RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMC5] of patients with chronic HCV infection, and explore the relationship between the HCV RNA in the PBMCs and response to interferon [IFN] therapy. Twenty-five patients with chronic viral hepatitis C were included. The HCV RNA in PBMCs and serum was detected after 12 weeks of initializing interferon treatment, at the end of treatment, and 24 week and 1 year follow up after the end of the treatment. At the end of the treatment course, patients who were found to have positive PCR test for HCV RNA in PBMCs were subdivided into two groups, one group continues to receive IFN therapy while the other group stops. The HCV RNA in PBMCs and serum was detected by RT-PCR using the Amplicor HCV 2.0 assay. All patients had negative serum PCR test for HCV RNA at the end of treatment, nevertheless HCV RNA was detected in PBMCs of approximately 32% of these patients. Patients who tested positively for HCV RNA in PBMCs at the end of treatment had an overall significantly

Serum complements C3 and C4 in chronic HCV infection and their correlation with response to pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment

To search for an immunological parameter that may correlate with the response to interferon [IFN] treatment is very crucial. The objective of this study was to correlate the levels of C3 and C4 complement components with the response to IFN treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection. Patients and This study was conducted on 100 patients and control subjects classified into three groups. Group [I] consisted of 50 patients with chronic hepatitis C who were receiving IFN treatment and showed various responses; group [II] included 25 patients with chronic hepatitis C naive to IFN treatment; and group [III] included 25 healthy subjects matched for age and sex who served as controls. Measurement of the level of complement C3 and C4 was done by a quantitative turbidimetric test. Measurement of complement levels in group [I] was done at the end of treatment at the 48th week. Serum levels of C3 and C4 were found to be significantly reduced in all patients with chronic HCV infection in both groups [I and II] compared to the healthy control group [III] [p < 0.05]. Moreover, chronic HCV patients treated with IFN and ribavirin had significantly lower levels of C3 and C4 compared with patients naive to IFN and ribavirin treatment. At the end of treatment, both C3 and C4 had significantly increased in responders to IFN when compared to non-responders [p = 0.025 and 0.05, respectively]. There was a significant negative correlation between C3 and C4 levels and the concentration of serum alanine aminotransferase [ALT] measured simultaneously. Higher C3 and C4 serum concentrations were found to be positively correlated to the end-of-treatment response in patients with chronic HCV infection treated with IFN and ribavirin