title: Changes in TNF-alpha mRNA levels in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection during alpha-interferon and ribavirin therapy.
abstract: HCV virus infections have become a serious epidemiological problem throughout the world. Hepatitis C therapy includes the administration of IFN-alpha and ribavirin, but results in the complete eradication of HCV viremia in only 30% of patients. TNF-alpha is one of the factors involved in hepatitis C pathogenesis and the results of therapy. In this study, we present the results of applying real-time RT-PCR for assessing the TNF-alpha mRNA level in the peripheral blood of patients treated with IFN-alpha and ribavirin. We found the TNF-alpha mRNA level to be higher in HCV-infected patients compared with healthy controls when analyzed after 4 weeks (p = 0.001) and 3 months (p = 0.003) of IFN-alpha/RIBA therapy. The pretreatment level and the level after six months of therapy were not significantly different from the level of healthy controls. There were no significant differences in TNF-alpha mRNA levels between patients who responded to anti-HCV therapy, resulting in a decrease in HCV viremia below detection limit over 6 months and patients whose HCV RNA was not eliminated (p = 0.881). These results indicate that there is a transient increase of TNF-alpha gene expression during anti-HCV therapy. This fact may be connected with the host organism's response to IFN-alpha/RIBA therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Medical University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sypniewski
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jurzak
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cholewa
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gola
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mazurek
authors.forename: Tadeusz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wilczok
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rozek-Kostórkiewicz
authors.forename: Wlodzimierz
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mazur
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gonciarz
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D012254:Ribavirin