title: Pretreatment serum macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1 levels predict sustained virological responses to re-treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are few predictors of the virological response in patients who are re-treated with antiviral therapies. In this study, we evaluated the levels of chemokines that bind to C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) and their impact on combination therapy in both treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal analysis of CCR5 chemokines was performed using the multiplex Bio-Rad 27-plex assay in 56 treatment-naïve and 24 treatment-experienced patients with chronic HCV infection during combination therapy with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin. A group of healthy donors was included as the control (n=11).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pretreatment level of macrophage inflammatory protein 1 (MIP-1) was determined to be an independent predictor, with an ideal predictive threshold for sustained virological response of 95.23 pg/ml. A rapid decline in HCV RNA was observed in patients with a pretreatment MIP-1 level of <95.23 pg/ml, while a slow reduction was measured in patients with levels of ≥95.23 pg/ml (p=0.014). Of note, the dynamics of MIP-1 further indicated that a lower level at baseline and at treatment week 12 was significantly associated with a favorable outcome of antiviral therapy (p=0.014), especially in treatment-experienced patients (p=0.04), while a higher level of MIP-1beta correlated with the elevation of transaminases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum MIP-1 is an independent and effective predictor of early and sustained virological response in chronically HCV-infected patients undergoing re-treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, 100000, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shibin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, 100000, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, 100000, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Huiping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, 100000, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Hepatology Institute, Peking University, China.
authors.forename: Lai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, 100000, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zhangyonghong_1980@163.com.
authors.forename: Yonghong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, 100000, Beijing, China. Electronic address: chenxydoc@163.com.
authors.forename: Xinyue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D054407:Chemokine CCL4 / Q000097:blood*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; C066507:CCL4 protein, human; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012254:Ribavirin; C100416:peginterferon alfa-2a
keywords: Chronic hepatitis C virus; Infection; MIP-1; Sustained virological responses