title: Study of the significance of percentage of peripheral CD4+ & CD8+ T cells and the hepatitis C virus genotypes in Egyptian patients with chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: Sequence comparison between isolates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) indicated that HCV can be classified into a series of distinct genotypes. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and clinical significance of HCV genotypes, to evaluate clinical relevance of percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in blood, and to find out predictors of response to interferon (IFN) therapy in Egyptian chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. The present study included 61 CHC patients who were subjected to HCV-RNA detection, HCV genotyping, and determination of percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in blood before and after six months treatment with IFN. Also, 20 healthy adults were enrolled as control group. Results revealed that genotype 4a is the prevalent HCV-genotype (85%) in Egypt. Only 21% of cases responded to IFN. The percentage of CD4+ T cells was significantly reduced, while the percentage of CD8+ T cells was significantly increased in patients with CHC. After IFN therapy only the percentage of CD8+ T cells was significantly reduced in non responders. Both genotype and percentage of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells failed to predict response to IFN. It was concluded that genotype 4a is the predominant genotype in Egypt. CHC is a disease of liver which may be induced by a suboptimal immune response. Selection of CHC patients for treatment with IFN is still a controversial issue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pathology, Ain Shams University.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Madwar
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Talkhan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: el-Salam
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Gabal
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zikery
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gharieb
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha