HIGH PREVALENCE OF ANTIPHOSPHOLIPID ANTIBODIES AND ANTITHYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODY IN PATIENTS WITH HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION TREATED WITH INTERFERON-ALPHA

Objectives and Methods: We investigated the prevalence rate of beta(2) -glycoprotein I (beta(2)-GPI)-dependent antiphospholipid antibodies (a PL)[anti-cardiolipin antibody (aCL), anti-phosphadidylserine antibody (aPS), and anti-phosphatidic acid antibody (aPA)], antinuclear antibod y (ANA), anti-deoxyribonucleic acid antibody (aDNA), anti-thyroglobuli n antibody (aTG), and antithyroid peroxidase antibody (aTPO) in 56 pat ients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and correlated the result s with inteferon-alpha (IFN) treatment. Results: aCL, aPS, and aPA wer e positive in, respectively, 7/56 (13%), 12/56 (21%), and 13/56 (23%) patients before treatment. aPS and aPA appeared in 6/44 and 9/43 and d isappeared in 6/12 and 2/13 patients, respectively, after IFN treatmen t; the differences were statistically significant. The changes in OD r eadings were higher in the group of patients who became positive for a PS and aPA than in those who became negative after treatment. The posi tive rates of aTG and aTPO in the patient group were statistically hig her than in the healthy controls, and aTG developed in four patients a nd disappeared in two. No obvious changes in aTPO were observed; howev er, the aTPO titer was increased in four previously positive patients. None of the patients positive for any antibodies developed an abnorma lity associated with these antibodies during an observation period of up to 1 yr. Conclusions: The pathogenesis of production and clinical s ignificance of aPL, ATG/aTPO in this clinical setting are unclear, but immunological disturbances, such as the effects of HCV infection and/ or IFN treatment, were considered to be a possibility. Further investi gation is needed to clarify whether HCV/aPL- and/or aTG/aTPO-positive patients treated with IFN might develop aPL-associated complications a nd/or autoimmune disease(es), in the future and to confirm whether IFN treatment justifies the outcome in this clinical setting.