title: Hepatitis C virus RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells: relation with response to interferon treatment.
abstract: The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to investigate the presence of positive and negative hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA strands in serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 20 patients with histologically proven HCV-related chronic liver disease. All patients completed a course of interferon (IFN) treatment (6 MU of IFN-alpha 2b three times a week for 24 weeks) and were followed-up for 12 months after treatment was discontinued. Pre-treatment, end-treatment and 6-month follow-up serum and PBMC samples were examined. At enrollment, the positive strand of HCV-RNA was detected in serum of 18 patients (90%), the negative strand in none. Positive-stranded HCV-RNA was detected in PBMC of 15 patients (75%), 13 of whom also had detectable levels of negative-stranded HCV-RNA in PBMC. By the end of the treatment, 12 patients (60%) were responders. The pre-treatment HCV infection of PBMC, indicated by the presence of both RNA strands, was found in 8 (66.7%) responders compared to 5 (62.5%) non-responders (P = n.s.). End-treatment loss of PBMC HCV-RNA correlated significantly with the response since it occurred in all responders compared to 2 non-responders (P = 0.02). However, end-treatment-negative serum and PBMC HCV-RNA did not predict the occurrence of a sustained response, which was observed at month 12 in 5 of 12 responders (P = n.s.). On the other hand, the persistent absence of HCV RNA in serum and PBMC at the end of the 6-month follow-up was significantly associated with the occurrence of a sustained response (P < 0.0001).
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Taliani
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Badolato
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lecce
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Poliandri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bozza
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Duca
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pasquazzi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clementi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Furlan
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Bac
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D002908:Chronic Disease; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins