title: Gene expression of interleukin-12 receptor beta2 chain and Th1 population of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: Gene expression of interleukin 12-receptor beta2 chain mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was examined in patients with chronic hepatitis C (n=7) and in healthy control subjects (n=6) by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The level of interleukin 12-receptor beta2 chain mRNA was higher in patients with chronic hepatitis C than in healthy subjects (P=0.032). The level of interleukin 12-receptor beta2 chain mRNA had a weak correlation with the ratio of Th1 to Th2 populations (r=0.714, P=0.020). There was a tendency for the level of interleukin 12-receptor beta2 mRNA to increase both in chronic hepatitis C (P=0.109) and in healthy volunteers (P=0.144) after the incubation of PBMCs with interferon-alpha in vitro. During interferon-alpha administration to the patients with chronic hepatitis C, the level of interleukin 12-receptor beta2 chain mRNA in PBMCs was increased in all four cases. Although this is a preliminary study with a small sample size, our results suggest that the level of interleukin 12-receptor beta2 chain mRNA is higher than normal in patients with chronic hepatitis C and can be further enhanced by interferon therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Koju
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shiina
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Izuma
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Niitsuma
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ojima
authors.forename: Motoyasu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Tooru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimosegawa