Amal Ahmed Mohamed*, Marwa M E Abd Elmonsef, Marwa K. Darwish , Mohamed A Atallah, Mohamed Ezz, Said El-Feky and Heba Ebrahim
Background: Egypt has the highest prevalence of adult HCV infection in the world, averaging 15%-25% in rural communities. Sustained virological response in genotype 4 Egyptian patients treated with PEG-IFN alfa-2a and ribavirin was estimated around 60%. It is of major interest for both patient care and economic approach to predict failure of response. Several factors have been shown to influence response to antiviral treatment. Cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis, progression and treatment outcome of HCV infection.
Aim: The current study was designated to assess serum interleukin-10 and interleukin-12 levels in CHC genotype 4 patients and investigate their benefit as predictors of antiviral response.
Methods: This study was conducted on a total number of 70 participants admitted to Hepatology and Gastroenterology Department in NHTMRI (National Hepatology & Tropical Medicine Research Institute). The participants of this study were divided into two groups as following; Group I: 20 healthy subjects (as controls), while the cases in Group II: 50 patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotype 4. Results: Our results showed that IL-12 and IL-10 levels were higher in patients with HCV infection than in control participants and were significantly higher in the group of the sustained responders, compared with non-responders. Serum IL-10 level showed a sensitivity and specificity of 76.7% and 73.3% respectively while serum IL-12 level showed sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 75% respectively.
Conclusion: These results demonstrate the beneficial role ofIL-10, IL-12 in achieving an SVR during IFN-alpha and ribavirin therapy
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