Interferon-α-Induced Changes to Natural Killer Cells Are Associated with the Treatment Outcomes in Patients with HCV Infections

[摘要] Aim. We analyzed the pretreatment natural killer (NK) cell functions with the aim of predicting the sustained virological response (SVR) or the interleukin (IL) 28B polymorphism that is strongly associated with the treatment response.Methods. The peripheral NK cells from chronic hepatitis patients with HCV genotype 1 and high virus titers were activated using a Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 ligand and IFN-α. The cell surface markers were evaluated using a flow cytometric analysis, and IFN-γproduction was evaluated using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The genotyping of the polymorphisms in theIL28Bgene region (rs8099917) on chromosome 19 was performed on the DNA collected from each patient.Results. The production of IFN-γwas significantly higher in the SVR patients compared with the no-response (NR) patients, whereas the cell surface markers were similar between the SVR and the NR patients. There were no significant differences found in theIL28Bgenotype distribution associated with the production of IFN-γ.Conclusion. Differences in the NK cell functions were observed between the SVR patients and the NR patients, suggesting that NK cells play a potential role in the treatment response independent of theIL28Bgenotype.

[学科分类] 传染病学