title: Interleukin 6 and 12, alanine aminotransferase activity, and HCV viral load in children with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon and ribavirin.
abstract: The response to viral infections is mediated through the co-operation of cellular and humoral mechanisms. The aim of this study was to seek the correlation between IL-6 and IL-12 level, HCV viral load, ALT activity during the 48-week treatment with interferon-alpha-2b (IFN-alpha-2b) combined with ribavirin in children with diagnosed CHC and to search their influence on positive response to treatment. The group of 27 children with CHC was enrolled into this study. The children were treated with interferon-alpha and ribavirin in the course of 48-week therapy. The results show that both ALT activity and the viral load at the time of implementation of treatment with IFN-alpha and ribavirin is an important prognostic tool when treating children. It has been shown that the levels of IL-6 do not bear any significant prognostic importance to the implemented therapy, yet the increase of IL-12 levels in the 24th week of the treatment may be of prognostic value and may point out the possible elimination of HCV-RNA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Child Neurology, University of Medical Sciences, ul. Szpitalna 27/33, 60-572 Poznan, Poland. arletakp1@wp.pl
authors.forename: Arleta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kowala-Piaskowska
authors.forename: Iwona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mozer-Lisewska
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Figlerowicz
authors.forename: Ludomiła
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Machowska
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Słuzewski
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000032:analysis*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D015850:Interleukin-6; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D018664:Interleukin-12; D012254:Ribavirin; D000410:Alanine Transaminase