The basal activation state of DC subsets correlates with anti-HCV treatment outcome in HCV/HIV co-infected patients.
In this work we evaluated plasmacytoid (pDC) and myeloid dendritic (mDC) cells activation before and during anti-HCV treatment in HCV+/HIV+ individuals. HCV+/HIV+ patients received Peg-IFN-α2b subcutaneously for 28 days, followed by oral weight-based ribavirin. DCs activation was evaluated by flow cytometry. Baseline pDC CD80 and CD86 expression was correlated with HIV, but not with HCV viral load. A transient decrease of HIV RNA was found not associated with DC activation. When patients were grouped according to early/sustained virological response (EVR/SVR) to anti-HCV treatment, baseline pDC CD80 and CD86 expression was higher in non-EVR and non-SVR compared to EVR and SVR. Moreover, in responder patients CD80 and CD86 were upregulated by IFN-α. Our data suggest a correlation between DCs activation and response to therapy. These findings could be helpful to better understand the mediators of IFN-α action in HCV+/HIV+ patients and to explore possible exploitation of this knowledge to improve therapeutic response.
Laboratory of Cellular Immunology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani, IRCCS, Rome, Italy. alessandra.sacchi@inmi.it
Alessandra
A
Sacchi
Chiara
C
Agrati
Gianpiero
G
D'Offizi
Chrysoula
C
Vlassi
Gabriella
G
Rozera
Isabella
I
Abbate
Maria Rosaria
MR
Capobianchi
Federico
F
Martini
D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load / Q000187:drug effects
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012254:Ribavirin; C417083:peginterferon alfa-2b