Fan X G, Liu W E, Li C Z, Wang Z C, Luo L X, Tan D M, Hu G L, Zhang Z
Department of Infectious Diseases, Xiangya Hospital, Hunan Medical University, Changsha, People's Republic of China.
Mediators Inflamm. 1998;7(4):295-7. doi: 10.1080/09629359890992.
The imbalance of T-helper (Th) lymphocyte cytokine production may play an important role in immunopathogenesis of persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. To know whether an imbalance between Th1 and Th2 cytokines is present in chronic HCV infection, serum levels of Th1 cytokines, interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin (IL)-2, and Th2 cytokines, IL-4 and IL-10, were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in this study. Eighteen individuals with chronic HCV infection, 11 healthy subjects as normal controls and 10 chronic HBV infected patients as disease controls were observed. The results showed that the levels of Th2 cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10) were significantly increased in chronic HCV infected patients compared with normal controls (IL-4: 30.49+/-17.55 vs. 14.94+/-13.73, pg/ml, P<0.025; IL-10: 50.30+/-19.59 vs. 17.87+/-9.49, pg/ml, P<0.001). Similarly, the levels of Th1 cytokine, IL-2, was also elevated in individuals with chronic HCV infection when compared with normal controls (IL-2: 118.53+/-95.23 vs. 61.57+/-28.70, pg/ml, P<0.05). However, Th1 cytokine IFN-gamma level was not significantly changed during HCV infection (IFN-gamma: 28.09+/-15.65 vs. 24.10+/-15.61, pg/ml, P>0.05). Furthermore, the elevated levels of Th2 cytokines are greater than Th1 cytokines in HCV infection. Thus, the study indicates that an enhanced Th2 responses are present during chronic HCV infection, which may partly be responsible for the persistence of HCV infection.
辅助性T（Th）淋巴细胞细胞因子产生的失衡可能在丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）持续感染的免疫发病机制中起重要作用。为了解慢性HCV感染中是否存在Th1和Th2细胞因子之间的失衡，本研究采用酶联免疫吸附测定法检测了Th1细胞因子干扰素γ（IFN-γ）和白细胞介素（IL）-2以及Th2细胞因子IL-4和IL-10的血清水平。观察了18例慢性HCV感染患者、11例健康受试者作为正常对照以及10例慢性HBV感染患者作为疾病对照。结果显示，与正常对照相比，慢性HCV感染患者的Th2细胞因子（IL-4和IL-10）水平显著升高（IL-4：30.49±17.55对14.94±13.73，pg/ml，P<0.025；IL-10：50.30±19.59对17.87±9.49，pg/ml，P<0.001）。同样，与正常对照相比，慢性HCV感染个体的Th1细胞因子IL-2水平也升高（IL-2：118.53±95.23对61.57±28.70，pg/ml，P<0.05）。然而，在HCV感染期间Th1细胞因子IFN-γ水平没有显著变化（IFN-γ：28.09±15.65对24.10±15.61，pg/ml，P>0.05）。此外，在HCV感染中Th2细胞因子升高的水平大于Th1细胞因子。因此，该研究表明慢性HCV感染期间存在增强的Th2反应，这可能部分导致了HCV感染的持续存在。
