Pretreatment expression of the perforin gene by circulating CD8(+) T lymphocytes predicts biochemical response to interferon-alpha in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Pretreatment expression of the perforin gene by circulating CD8(+) T lymphocytes predicts biochemical response to interferon-alpha in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Eur Cytokine Netw. 2000 Jun;11(2):177-84. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/20363558
Balian A; Naveau S; Zou W; Durand-Gasselin I; Bouchet L; Foussat A; Galanaud P; Chaput JC; Emilie D; Hopital Antoine-Beclere, Insitut Paris-Sud sur les Cytokines,; 92140 Clamart, France. axel.balian@abc.ap-hop-paris.fr

Abstract: It would be of great value to be able to predict, before the initiation of treatment, which patients with hepatitis C virus-induced chronic hepatitis will be cured by interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha). Competitive RT-PCR was used to evaluate spontaneous expression of the perforin gene, a marker of cytotoxic cell activation, by circulating mononuclear cells in 17 patients undergoing IFN-alpha treatment. IFN-alpha increased perforin gene expression (p < 0.003), but this was not correlated with outcome. In contrast, pretreatment perforin gene expression levels were higher in the 8 patients with a sustained biochemical response after treatment than in the 9 non-responsive patients (p = 0.01). This factor predicted favorable clinical outcome with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 89%. Thus, pretreatment immunological status has a major influence on the ability of IFN-alpha to cure chronic hepatitis C, and the evaluation of perforin gene expression may help to select patients that will benefit from IFN-alpha treatment.

Keywords: JOURNAL ARTICLE Adult Alanine Transaminase/BLOOD Base Sequence CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/*METABOLISM DNA Primers/GENETICS Female Gene Expression Hepatitis C-Like Viruses/DRUG EFFECTS Hepatitis C, Chronic/*DRUG THERAPY/ENZYMOLOGY/*GENETICS Human Interferon Alfa-2a/*THERAPEUTIC USE Male Membrane Glycoproteins/IMMUNOLOGY/*METABOLISM Middle Age Reproducibility of Results Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/METHODS/ STATISTICS & NUMER DATA RNA, Messenger/GENETICS/METABOLISM Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Virus Replication/DRUG EFFECTS

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