title: Soluble inflammatory markers as predictors of virological response in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection treated with interferon-α plus ribavirin.
abstract: The host immune response plays an important role in viral clearance in patients who are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and are treated with interferon and ribavirin. Activation of the immune system involves the release of pro and anti-inflammatory molecules that can be measured in plasma samples. The present study aimed to evaluate the association between pretreatment plasma levels of chemokines and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors (sTNF-R) and the virological response in treated patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. Forty-one chronically-infected HCV patients that were being treated with interferon-α (IFN-α) plus ribavirin were included in the study. Socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected and pretreatment plasma levels of chemokine CCL2, CCL3, CCL11, CCL24, chemokine CXCL9, CXCL10, sTNF-R1 and sTNF-R2 were measured. The virological response was assessed at treatment week 12, at the end of treatment and 24 weeks after treatment. Pretreatment CXCL10 levels were significantly higher in patients without an early virological response (EVR) or sustained virological response (SVR) compared to responders [512.9 pg/mL vs. 179.1 pg/mL (p = 0.011) and 289.9 pg/mL vs. 142.7 pg/mL (p = 0.045), respectively]. The accuracy of CXCL10 as a predictor of the absence of EVR and SVR was 0.79 [confidence interval (CI) 95%: 0.59-0.99] and 0.69 (CI 95%: 0.51-0.87), respectively. Pretreatment plasma levels of the other soluble inflammatory markers evaluated were not associated with a treatment response. Pretreatment CXCL10 levels were predictive of both EVR and SVR to IFN-α and ribavirin and may be useful in the evaluation of candidates for therapy.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Alfredo Balena 190, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil. alexandresmoura@gmail.com
authors.forename: Alexandre Sampaio
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.forename: Ricardo Andrade
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Carmo
authors.forename: Antonio Lucio
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Mauro Martins
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Manoel Otávio da Costa
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Rocha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D018925:Chemokines / Q000097:blood*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000097:blood*; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D018925:Chemokines; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D012254:Ribavirin