title: Eradication of hepatitis C virus could improve immunological status and pyoderma gangrenosum-like lesions.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can affect immune cells and induce various kinds of immune-related diseases including pyoderma gangrenosum. We experienced a difficult-to-treat case of pyoderma gangrenosum-like lesions in a patient with HCV infection. The patient was treated with pegylated interferon (PEG IFN)-α-2b and ribavirin (RBV) therapy and achieved a sustained virological response. Before the eradication of HCV, the frequency of T-helper 17 cells was remarkably high in comparison to chronic hepatitis C patients without extrahepatic immune-related diseases. Moreover, we could detect negative and positive strand-specific HCV RNA in the CD19(+) B lymphocytes and CD4(+) T lymphocytes. However, after the eradication of HCV, the immunological status became normal and the pyoderma gangrenosum-like lesions became stable without immunosuppressive therapy. Here, we report a sequential immunological analysis during PEG IFN/RBV therapy and the beneficial effect of HCV eradication in difficult-to-treat pyoderma gangrenosum-like lesions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuteru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Haga
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ninomiya
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kakazu
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kogure
authors.forename: Tatsuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morosawa
authors.forename: Setsuya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aiba
authors.forename: Tooru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimosegawa
keywords: CD19; CD4; T-helper 17; extrahepatic diseases; hepatitis C virus