title: MONOCYTE CHEMOTACTIC PROTEIN AND RESPONSE TO PEGYLATED INTERFERON-ALPHA-2A TREATMENT IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C (CHC) GENOTYPE 4.
abstract: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection varies across the world, with the highest number of infections reported in Egypt. Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) is a potent chemokine, and its hepatic expression is up-regulated during chronic HCV infection. Fifty naive patients with chronic hepatitis C in National Hepatology & Tropical Medicine Research Institute and 20 healthy volunteers as controls were enrolled in a prospective study designed with strict inclusion criteria to nullify the effect of confounding variables and further minimize selection bias. Fifty naive patients were treated with PEG-IFN-a2b, at a dose of 1801 g/kg subcutaneously every week plus ribavirin at a dose of 1000- 1200 mg/day, according to the patient's body weight, for 48 weeks. Quantification of HCV-RNA by real-time PCR and MCP-1 by ELISA were performed for every patient and controls. There was a sta- tistically significant difference between patients and control group as regards the quantity of MCP-1 (P < 0.05) (Mann-Whitney test) (P = 0.004). There was a significant difference between responders and nonresponses regarding MCP-1 (P < 0.05), responders showed a higher percentage of cases with initial MCP-1 < 306 (P < 0.05). We conclude the importance of the detection of MCP-1 expression at the start of therapy as a factor for assessing the likelihood of HCV genotype 4 patients to achieving a sustained virological response to treatment with IFN-a2 in combination with ribavirin.
authors.forename: Amal A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.forename: Ola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sayed
authors.forename: Omnia E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Ghadir A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Sayed
authors.forename: Zainab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Moustfa
authors.forename: Waleed Ahmed
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Elagawy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012254:Ribavirin; C100416:peginterferon alfa-2a