title: Elevated soluble CD30 characterizes patients with hepatitis C virus-induced liver allograft cirrhosis.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) significantly accelerates progression to allograft cirrhosis. Current biochemical parameters to monitor progression of chronic HCV after OLT have yielded low specificity and sensitivity. Here we investigated the HCV-specific immunity and serum levels of soluble CD30 (sCD30), a novel marker of Th2 immunity, in patients with and without allograft cirrhosis. Patients with hepatic inflammation but no cirrhosis (HIN, n=20) revealed elevated serum interferon (IFN)-gamma and high frequency of IFN-gamma producing CD4 T(h1) cells compared to those with hepatic cirrhosis (HFC, n=20) that had high interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-5 producing CD4 T(h2) cells. Patients with HFC, but not HIN, were found to have significantly higher levels of sCD30. Therefore, we conclude that lack of optimal Th1-type CD4 T cells is associated with HCV-induced allograft cirrhosis. Further, sCD30 may represent a novel marker for surveillance of hepatic cirrhosis in transplant recipients with chronic HCV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Ankit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bharat
authors.forename: Kishore
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.forename: Anjali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Golocheikine
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Steward
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crippin
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lisker-Melman
authors.forename: Surendra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shenoy
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lowell
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Thalachallour
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mohanakumar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000821:virology; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D015415:Biomarkers; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen; D007371:Interferon-gamma