title: Enhanced levels of interleukin-8 are associated with hepatitis B virus infection and resistance to interferon-alpha therapy.
abstract: The objective of this study was to analyze the expression levels of IL-8 in serum and liver tissues from patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection and to investigate whether IL-8 may antagonize interferon-alpha (IFN-α) antiviral activity against HBV. IL-8 expression in serum was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and fluorescence-based quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to measure IL-8 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with CHB. IL-8 protein expression was detected in liver biopsy tissues by immunohistochemistry. In addition, the differences in serum IL-8 and PBMCs mRNA levels were also observed in patients with different anti-viral responses to IFN-α. Compared to normal controls, serum IL-8 protein and mRNA levels were increased in CHB patients, IL-8 levels were positively correlated with the severity of liver inflammation/fibrosis. Moreover, serum IL-8 protein and mRNA levels were positively correlated with serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level and negatively correlated with serum prealbumin (PA) level. IL-8 expression was mainly located in portal area of liver tissues and was increased with the severity of liver inflammation and fibrosis stage. The expression serum and mRNA levels of IL-8 in the CHB patients with a complete response to IFN-α are significantly lower than that of the patients with non-response to IFN-α treatment. It is suggested that IL-8 might play important roles in the pathogenesis of CHB. Moreover, interferon resistance may be related to the up-regulation of IL-8 expression in the patients did not respond to IFN-α treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China. ykmedicine@163.com.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China. shiheguan@126.com.
authors.forename: Shi-He
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China. haozhang595@163.com.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China. pany7876@163.com.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China. wuyy6728@163.com.
authors.forename: Yuan-Yuan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China. 314wcy@163.com.
authors.forename: Ai-Hua
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China. sunbeibei87816@163.com.
authors.forename: Bei-Bei
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral; D005260:Female; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011228:Prealbumin / Q000032:analysis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D016209:Interleukin-8; D011228:Prealbumin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000410:Alanine Transaminase