Possible association between HLA antigens and the response to interferon in Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Correlation between the major histocompatibility complex class I antigens (HLA-A, -B and -C) and the elimination from serum of hepatitis C virus in patients with chronic hepatitis C has not been understood. We analyzed HLA phenotypes and their relationship to the efficacy of interferon treatment. Of the 172 patients who were treated with 9 million units of interferon-alpha 2a three times a week for 6 months, 54 patients were responders and 118 patients were non-responders. No significant difference was observed between the 172 patients and 199 healthy subjects with regard to the frequencies of HLA-A, -B and -C antigen phenotypes. However, HLA-B55, B62, CW3 and CW4 frequencies were significantly higher in responders than in non-responders to the interferon treatment. CW4 was found to link with B62, but other phenotypes were independent each other. Patients with HLA B55, B62 and CW3 had a significantly lower viral load, and showed a better response to interferon. These results suggest that HLA system does not have an influence on the evolution towards chronicity of the disease due to hepatitis C virus, but HLA B55, B62 or CW4, and CW3 may be a virus quantity-regulating factors which then affect to response to the interferon treatment, indicating that these HLA antigens in conjunction with a viral peptide is a key target antigen for cytotoxic T lymphocytes in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Miyaguchi
S
S
Department of Internal Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Otsuka Hospital, Japan.
Saito
H
H
Ebinuma
H
H
Morizane
T
T
Ishii
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010641:Phenotype; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
D006680:HLA Antigens; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins