title: Serum Levels of Soluble CD26, A Novel Prognostic Marker for Hepatitis E Infection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Even without treatment, most acute hepatitis E virus (HEV) infected patients resolve HEV but sometimes the disease leads to acute liver failure, chronic infection, or extrahepatic symptoms. The mechanisms of HEV pathogenesis appear to be substantially immune mediated. However, the immune responses to HEV are not precisely identified.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to evaluate the Th1/Th2 ratio by investigating serum soluble markers from Th1 and Th2 cells in acute HEV infected patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  This case-control study included 35 acute HEV infected patients and 35 age and gender matched anti-HEV negative healthy controls. The serum levels of Interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-4, soluble CD26 (sCD26) and sCD30 were determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed a significant difference in IFN-γ and sCD26 (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.001) yet not IL-4 and sCD30 (P = 0.354 and P = 0.159) between acute HEV patients and controls, respectively. There was a positive direct correlation between serum levels of sCD26 and IFN-γ in acute HEV patients (r = 0.64, P = 0.001). In addition, the ratio of sCD26/sCD30 in the acute HEV group was more than two folds higher than in the HEV negative controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acute HEV infection shows a pattern of Th1-type immune response, and the direct significant positive correlation between the serum level of sCD26 and IFN-γ in acute HEV infected patients, suggests that the trend of sCD26 levels is a valuable marker for predicting hepatic inflammation in hepatitis E.
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rafiei
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Abolghasem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ajami
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Araz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammad Mirabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Buali Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Jafar
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Saffar
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Omolbanin
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Amjadi
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Department of Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Haghshenas
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Farshideh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abedian
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Pouya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Khaje-Enayati
keywords: Acute Hepatitis; Hepatitis E virus; IFN-γ; IL-4; Soluble CD26; Soluble CD30