Department of Central Laboratory, The Second Part of First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun 130032, China.
Mediators Inflamm. 2012;2012:819636. doi: 10.1155/2012/819636. Epub 2012 Jan 24.
Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is associated with the development of Th2 responses. This study examined the potential role of IL-33 in the pathogenic process of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in Chinese patients. The levels of serum IL-33 and sST2 in 154 patients with CHC, 24 with spontaneously resolved HCV (SR-HCV) infection and 20 healthy controls (HC), were analyzed by ELISA. The concentrations of serum IL-2, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10, HCV loads, ALT, AST, and HCV-Ab were measured. We found that the levels of serum IL-33 in CHC patients were significantly higher than those of SR-HCV and HC but decreased after treatment with interferon for 12 weeks. More importantly, the levels of serum IL-33 were correlated with the concentrations of ALT and AST in CHC patients. The levels of serum sST2, as a decoy receptor of IL-33, were significantly higher in CHC and SR-CHC patients than those in HC, and there was no correlation between the levels of serum sST2 and IL-33. The concentrations of serum IFN-γ and IL-6 in CHC patients were significantly lower than those of SR-HCV. These data suggest that IL-33 may be a pathogenic factor contributing to CHC-related liver injury.
白细胞介素 33(IL-33)与 Th2 反应的发展有关。本研究探讨了白细胞介素 33(IL-33)在中国人慢性丙型肝炎(CHC)发病机制中的潜在作用。通过 ELISA 分析了 154 例 CHC 患者、24 例自发性 HCV (SR-HCV)感染患者和 20 名健康对照者(HC)血清 IL-33 和 sST2 的水平。测量了血清 IL-2、IFN-γ、TNF-α、IL-4、IL-6 和 IL-10 的浓度、HCV 载量、ALT、AST 和 HCV-Ab。我们发现 CHC 患者血清 IL-33 水平明显高于 SR-HCV 和 HC,但经干扰素治疗 12 周后降低。更重要的是,CHC 患者血清 IL-33 水平与 ALT 和 AST 浓度相关。CHC 和 SR-CHC 患者血清 sST2 水平作为 IL-33 的诱饵受体明显高于 HC,而血清 sST2 与 IL-33 水平之间无相关性。CHC 患者血清 IFN-γ和 IL-6 浓度明显低于 SR-HCV。这些数据表明,IL-33 可能是导致 CHC 相关肝损伤的致病因素。