title: Prediction of antiviral efficacy in patients with chronic hepatitis C by changes in forkhead box protein 3 levels.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the distribution of CD4+CD25+regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C; in addition to identifying whether the distribution of CD4+CD25+Tregs predicts the efficacy of antiviral therapy for HCV. The expression of CD4+CD25+forkhead box protein (FOXP) 3+Tregs within a CD4+T cell population was detected in the peripheral blood obtained from patients with chronic hepatitis C and from healthy control subjects using flow cytometry. The hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA load was measured using quantitative-fluorescence polymerase chain reaction. CD4+CD25+FOXP3+Tregs accounted for 14.24±1.33% of the CD4+T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C, which was higher than that of the healthy control subjects (5.62±1.21%; P<0.001). Furthermore, the frequency of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+Tregs in CD4+T cells of the peripheral blood positively correlated with the HCV-RNA load (r=0.73; P=0.032). Therefore, the results of the present study indicated that the expression of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+Tregs increased in patients that were chronically infected with HCV and positively correlated with the HCV-RNA load.
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jia-Bao
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Xian
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei-Wei
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210007, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yong-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: CD4+CD25+ forkhead box P3+ regulatory T cells; chronic hepatitis C; hepatitis C virus-RNA load