Monokine production by peripheral whole blood in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with interferon.
Using our scoring system, we studied the production of monokines (interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-6) by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated peripheral whole blood in 34 patients with chronic hepatitis C during the interferon-alpha/beta therapy. It decreased in 25.7% (9/35 group A), fluctuated in 60.0% (21/35, group B), and increased in 14.3% (5/35, group C). The patients in group A were younger than those in group B (P < 0.05). The histological grade of injury was milder in group A than in group B or C. The rate of sustained response was 66.7% (6/9) in group A, 19.0% (4/21) in group B, and 40.0% (2/5) in group C(P = 0.0184, group A versus group B). In summary, monokine production by peripheral whole blood varied during interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C patients. No significant change was noted in 60% of the patients. However, patients with decreased monokine production were younger, with a mild histological grade, and likely to respond to the interferon therapy.
Itoh
Y
Y
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.
Okanoue
T
T
Sakamoto
S
S
Nishioji
K
K
Yasui
K
K
Sakamoto
M
M
Kashima
K
K
D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015846:Monokines / Q000097:blood*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis
D007375:Interleukin-1; D015850:Interleukin-6; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D015846:Monokines; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007372:Interferons