Il-1, EGF, and HGF suppress the antiviral activity of interferon in primary monkey hepatic parenchymal cells.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanism behind low efficacy of interferon therapy to hepatitis C virus infected patients by using primary monkey hepatic parenchymal cells as a surrogate of primary human liver cells. The effects of various cytokines on the antiviral activity of IFNs in the monkey hepatic cells were studied to search for physiological inhibitors. Interleukin-1 alpha, EGF, and HGF showed suppressive effects on the antiviral activity of IFN-alpha, -beta in primary monkey hepatic cells when examined by the yield reduction method using vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). In contrast, 50 ng/ml of TNF and IL-6 had no suppressive effect on the IFN-induced antiviral state in the hepatic cells.