Detection of host immune responses in acute phase sera of spontaneous resolution versus persistent hepatitis C virus infection.

Pubmed ID: 22535775

Pubmed Central ID: PMC3541758

Journal: The Journal of general virology

Publication Date: Aug. 1, 2012

Affiliation: Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.

MeSH Terms: Humans, Male, Adult, Female, Adolescent, Middle Aged, Young Adult, Hepacivirus, Viral Load, Time Factors, Hepatitis C, Gene Expression Regulation, Acute-Phase Proteins, Transfusion Reaction

Grants: R01-HL-076902, R01 HL076902, R21 HL112658, R21-HL-112658, P30 AI027763

Authors: Busch MP, Mosley JW, Operskalski E, Norris PJ, Heitman J, Selvarajah S, Keating S, Lu K, Simmons G

Cite As: Selvarajah S, Keating S, Heitman J, Lu K, Simmons G, Norris PJ, Operskalski E, Mosley JW, Busch MP. Detection of host immune responses in acute phase sera of spontaneous resolution versus persistent hepatitis C virus infection. J Gen Virol 2012 Aug;93(Pt 8):1673-1679. Epub 2012 Apr 25.

Studies:

Abstract

Prior to the identification of hepatitis C virus (HCV), transfusion-transmission was common. Viral transmission in subjects with a known date of infection allows the study of the immune responses to acute HCV infection. We analysed 39 soluble immune factors in serum samples from subjects with transfusion-transmitted HCV. Dynamic expression kinetics of interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10), tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin (IL)-10 were observed during acute HCV infection. Serum IP-10 was the only analyte that was significantly elevated in HCV resolvers compared with uninfected controls. In individuals who progressed to chronic HCV elevated levels of IP-10 and IL-10 coincided with first significant alanine aminotransferase elevation and remained elevated during the first year of acute HCV infection. In addition to monitoring lack of reduction in viral load, serum levels of IP-10 and IL-10 expression during acute HCV infection may be useful biomarkers to predict the progress to chronic HCV.