Effects of IFNα?2b on serum Hepcidin in hepatitis C patients / 实用医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects of interferon alpha?2b(IFNα?2b)on serum Hepcidin in hepatitis C patients and its mechanism. Methods Hepatitis C patients were divided evenly into treatment group and control group according to whether they had received treatment with IFNα?2b in the past 3 months. The serum hepci?din was compared between the two groups. HepG2 cells and LO2 cells were treated for 24 hours at varied levels of IFNα?2b(0,50,100,200,400μL)and real?time PCR was used to detect the hepcidin,interleukin?6(IL?6)and signal transduction and transcription activator 3(STAT3)mRNA expression of cells. The protein levels of STAT3 and phosphorylated STAT3(pSTAT3)were measured by Western blot. The changes of these indexes were observed with the gradual increase of IFNα?2b levels. Results Serum Hepcidin level in the treatment group was significantly lower than the control(P<0.05). IFNα?2b inhibited the Hepcidin mRNA in HepG2 cells and LO2 cells. pSTAT3 was significantly decreased with the increased levels of IFNα?2b(P<0.05),and the expression of IL?6 and STAT3 had no significant changes with the increase of IFNα?2b. Conclusion The serum Hepcidin levels can be decreased because IFNα?2b suppresses the expression of Hepcidin,and its mechanism may be related with inhibited STAT3 pathway activation.