Suou T, Hosho K, Kishimoto Y, Horie Y, Kawasaki H
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
Hepatology. 1995 Aug;22(2):426-31.
To evaluate the effect of interferon alfa (IFN-alpha) on the hepatic extracellular matrix, we investigated the changes in serum N-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen during and after 4 months of INF-alpha treatment in 178 treated and 45 nontreated patients with chronic hepatitis C. Serum pretreatment levels in nonresponders were significantly higher than those in long-term and short-term responders, but those levels were not different in the latter two groups. Serum propeptide levels decreased significantly during and after IFN-alpha therapy in the treated patients, although those levels were unchanged in the nontreated patients. This decrease was sustained for 12 months after IFN-alpha was completed not only in long-but also in short-term responders and nonresponders. Serum propeptide levels decreased in those with elevated pretreatment levels, but not in those with normal initial levels, whereas serum transaminase levels decreased similarly in both groups. The changes in serum propeptide levels during and after treatment were more closely correlated with the initial levels compared with those in serum transaminase levels. These results suggested that IFN-alpha treatment induces the long-term suppression of active fibrogenesis in chronic hepatitis C independent of antiviral and anti-necroinflammatory effects, thus preventing progression to cirrhosis.
为评估干扰素α（IFN-α）对肝细胞外基质的影响，我们调查了178例接受治疗和45例未接受治疗的慢性丙型肝炎患者在IFN-α治疗期间及治疗4个月后血清III型前胶原N端前肽的变化。无反应者的血清预处理水平显著高于长期和短期反应者，但后两组之间的水平无差异。在接受治疗的患者中，IFN-α治疗期间及治疗后血清前肽水平显著下降，而未接受治疗的患者血清前肽水平未发生变化。这种下降在IFN-α治疗结束后持续12个月，不仅长期反应者如此，短期反应者和无反应者也是如此。预处理水平升高者的血清前肽水平下降，而初始水平正常者的血清前肽水平未下降，而两组患者的血清转氨酶水平均有类似下降。与血清转氨酶水平相比，治疗期间及治疗后血清前肽水平的变化与初始水平的相关性更强。这些结果表明，IFN-α治疗可长期抑制慢性丙型肝炎的活性纤维生成，且与抗病毒和抗坏死炎症作用无关，从而防止病情进展为肝硬化。
