Expression Profile of Interferon Regulatory Factor 1 in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus-Infected Liver Transplant Patients.
OBJECTIVE
Hepatitis B virus, which mainly affects normal liver function, leads to severe acute and chronic hepatitis, resulting in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, but can be safely treated after liver transplant. Evaluation of determinative biomarkers may facilitate more effective treatment of posttransplant rejection. Therefore, we investigated interferon regulatory factor 1 expression in hepatitis B virus-infected liver transplant patients with and without previous rejection compared with controls.


METHODS
Hepatitis B virus-infected liver recipients were divided into those with (20 patients) and without a rejection (26 patients), confirmed by pathologic analyses in those who had a rejection. In addition, a healthy control group composed of 13 individuals was included. Expression levels of interferon regulatory factor 1 were evaluated during 3 follow-ups after transplant using an in-house comparative SYBR green real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS software (SPSS: An IBM Company, version 16.0, IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA).


RESULTS
Modifications of interferon regulatory factor 1 gene expression levels in patient groups with and without rejection were not significant between days 1, 4, and 7 after liver transplant. Interferon regulatory factor 1 mRNA expression levels were down-regulated in patients without rejection versus patients with rejection, although not significantly at day 1 (P = .234) and day 4 (P = .302) but significantly at day 7 (P = .004) after liver transplant.


CONCLUSIONS
Down-regulation of interferon regulatory factor 1 gene expression in hepatitis B virus patients without rejection emphasized counteraction between hepatitis B virus replication and interferon regulatory factor 1 production. On the other hand, interferon regulatory factor 1 gene overexpression in patients with rejection may result in inflammatory reactions and ischemic-reperfusion injury. Therefore, a better understanding of the association between interferon regulatory factor 1 and hepatitis B virus pathogenesis in a larger population with longer follow-up is needed.
From the Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Science, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azd University, Tehran, Iran.
Sahar
S
Janfeshan
Ramin
R
Yaghobi
Akram
A
Eidi
Mohammad Hossein
MH
Karimi
Bita
B
Geramizadeh
Seyed Ali
SA
Malekhosseini
Farshid
F
Kafilzadeh
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D050856:Interferon Regulatory Factor-1 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000601:surgery* / Q000821:virology; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014779:Virus Replication
C494257:IRF1 protein, human; D050856:Interferon Regulatory Factor-1; D012333:RNA, Messenger