Shoman Sahar, Nabil Mohamed, Tabl Ashraf, Ghanem Hussam, Kafrawy Sherif El
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Department of Microbial Biotechnology, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2014 Sep;109(6):722-7. doi: 10.1590/0074-0276140049. Epub 2014 Aug 22.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) plays a major role in liver pathology. Similar to other members of the herpesvirus family, EBV establishes a persistent infection in more than 90% of adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of EBV and chronic hepatitis C co-infection (HCV) on biochemical and immunological responses in patients. The study was conducted in 62 patients and 33 apparently healthy controls. Patients were divided into three groups: group I, consisting of 31 patients with chronic hepatitis C infection (CHC), group II, consisting of eight patients with EBV infection and without HCV infection and group III, consisting of 23 patients with EBV and chronic HCV. The percentage of CD3⁺ cells, helper CD4⁺ cells and CD19⁺ B-cells was measured by flow cytometry. Human interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin (IL)-15 levels were measured by an ELISA. The levels of liver alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase enzymes were higher in EBV/HCV patients compared to that in EBV and HCV mono-infected patients. EBV/HCV patients had significantly reduced percentages of CD3⁺ and CD4⁺ cells compared to EBV patients. Serum IFN-γ levels were significantly reduced in EBV/HCV patients (3.86 pg/mL) compared to CHC patients (6.76 pg/mL) and normal controls (4.69 pg/mL). A significant increase in serum IL-15 levels was observed in EBV/HCV patients (67.7 pg/mL) compared to EBV patients (29.3 pg/mL). Taken together, these observations suggest that HCV and EBV co-infection can potentiate immune response dampening in patients.
爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒（EBV）在肝脏病理学中起主要作用。与疱疹病毒家族的其他成员类似，EBV在90%以上的成年人中建立持续感染。本研究的目的是评估EBV与慢性丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）合并感染对患者生化和免疫反应的影响。该研究纳入了62例患者和33名明显健康的对照者。患者被分为三组：第一组，由31例慢性丙型肝炎感染（CHC）患者组成；第二组，由8例EBV感染且无HCV感染的患者组成；第三组，由23例EBV与慢性HCV合并感染的患者组成。通过流式细胞术检测CD3⁺细胞、辅助性CD4⁺细胞和CD19⁺B细胞的百分比。采用酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）检测人干扰素-γ（IFN-γ）和白细胞介素（IL）-15水平。与EBV和HCV单一感染的患者相比，EBV/HCV合并感染患者的肝脏丙氨酸氨基转移酶和天冬氨酸氨基转移酶水平更高。与EBV感染患者相比，EBV/HCV合并感染患者的CD3⁺和CD4⁺细胞百分比显著降低。与CHC患者（6.76 pg/mL）和正常对照者（4.69 pg/mL）相比，EBV/HCV合并感染患者的血清IFN-γ水平显著降低（3.86 pg/mL）。与EBV感染患者（29.3 pg/mL）相比，EBV/HCV合并感染患者的血清IL-15水平显著升高（67.7 pg/mL）。综上所述，这些观察结果表明，HCV与EBV合并感染可增强患者的免疫反应抑制作用。
