EFFICACY OF AN ANALYSIS OF LYMPHOCYTE SUBSETS IN PREDICTING THE CLINICAL-RESPONSE TO ALPHA-INTERFERON THERAPY IN THALASSEMIA PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC INFECTION BY HEPATITIS-C VIRUS - A PILOT-STUDY

alpha-interferon (alpha-IFN) has been used to treat chronic non-A non- B hepatitis in thalassaemic patients with response rates from 45% to 8 3%. Unfortunately treatment with alpha-IFN is associated with side-eff ects which have a negative effect on the quality of life of the patien t. Therefore it would be useful if we could distinguish in advance tho se patients who would benefit from such therapy from those who would n ot. In the present study we found that the modification of lymphocyte subsets 20 h after the administration of the first dose of alpha-IFN r evealed that relative numbers of T helper lymphocytes (CD4(+)) increas ed in three non-responding patients and decreased in five responding p atients, whereas those of T suppressor lymphocytes (CD8(+)), and natur al killer cells (CD57(+), CD16(+)) decreased in nonresponding patients and increased in responding patients. Therefore analysis of the lymph ocyte subsets CD4, CD8, CD57 and CD16 before and 20 h after the admini stration of alpha-IFN can be used to predict the clinical response to treatment with alpha-IFN.