Pro-inflammatory CD14+ CD16++ monocytes in HCV persistent and spontaneously cleared infections

ABSTRACT

In human blood, two Monocytes [Mo] subpopulations have been distinguished the classical CD 14+'DR' Mo and pro-inflammatory CD14'CD16-'DR' Mo. In HCV antibody positive with persistent HCY [positive HCV RNA], we found decreased numbers of the pro-inflammatory Mo in 20 patients with persistent HCV with an average of [34.1 f 22 cells/pl] in comparison to the numbers in the cleared patients [positive HCV Ab with negative HCV MA] [85 + 35 cells/d]. Intracellular TNF was measured by three-color immunofluorescence and flow cytometry after stimulation with Lipopolysaccharide [LPS]. In patients with persistent HCV infection, pro-inflammatory Mo showed one and half fold higher level of intracellular TNF staining. This indicates that the minor population of pro-inflammatory Mo plays pronounced roles in the HCV clearance or persistence