title: Impact of host responses on control of hepatitis C virus infection in Chinese blood donors.
abstract: A study was undertaken to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying control of HCV infection in blood donors in China. Factors including clinical information, anti-HCV reactivity (S/CO), IFN-α and IFN-γ, viral loads and genotypes were correlated with 160 index plasma samples at three statuses of 45 recovered, 76 chronic or 39 false positive anti-HCV reactive blood donors. The spontaneous recovery rate was 37.2%. Viral loads of 76 HCV plasmas ranged between 59.8 IU/ml and 2.43 × 10(6)IU/ml (median 3.67 × 10(4)IU/ml). Genotypes 1, 2, 3 and 6 of 63 HCV strains were identified phylogenetically. Recovered donors were significantly younger (p=0.002) and had lower level IFN-γ (p=0.001) than chronically HCV infected donors. Circulating levels of IFN-α and IFN-γ were higher in those with low viral load and were low in middle or high viral load samples. The ratio of IFN-α to IFN-γ (IFN-α/γ) was significantly positively correlated with viral load (p=0.037), and viral load was inversely correlated with IFN-γ in chronic HCV infection regardless of genotype. The study revealed clearly different relationships between IFN-α and IFN-γ in relation to viral load in HCV. A novel measure of IFN-α/γ ratio could be a new approach to evaluate long term outcome of HCV infection.
authors: Department of Transfusion Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
authors: Tingting
authors: T
authors: Li
authors: Zixuan
authors: Z
authors: Chen
authors: Jinfeng
authors: J
authors: Zeng
authors: Jingang
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: Wenjing
authors: W
authors: Wang
authors: Ling
authors: L
authors: Zhang
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Zheng
authors: Lifang
authors: L
authors: Shuai
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Klenerman
authors: Jean-Pierre
authors: JP
authors: Allain
authors: Chengyao
authors: C
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001782:Blood Donors; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000276:immunology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000276:immunology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D019562:Viral Load / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma