N. Kuzushita et al., HIGH-LEVELS OF SERUM INTERLEUKIN-10 ARE ASSOCIATED WITH A POOR RESPONSE TO INTERFERON TREATMENT IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C, Scandinavian journal of gastroenterology, 32(2), 1997, pp. 169-174
Background: It still remains unclear whether some immunologic factors
affect the response to interferon treatment. We therefore examined whe
ther the pretreatment levels of serum interleukin-10 and soluble inter
cellular adhesion molecule-1 can be associated with the response to in
terferon treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Methods: One
hundred and two patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interfe
ron alpha-2b were divided into three groups on the basis of patterns o
f biochemical interferon response. Pretreatment levels of serum interl
eukin-10 and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 were determined
using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) typi
ng was performed with a serologic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. R
esults: For patients with serotype I (n = 76) the numbers of sustained
, transient, and non-responders were 12 (16%), 43 (56%), and 21 (28%),
respectively. In serotype-I patients the pretreatment levels of serum
interleukin-10 in non-responders were significantly higher than those
in sustained or transient responders, although no significant differe
nces were observed in HCV RNA quantity between them. There were no sig
nificant differences in the pretreatment levels of serum soluble inter
cellular adhesion molecule-1 among the three groups. Conclusion: These
findings suggest that high serum interleukin-10 levels may be related
to a poor response to interferon treatment in serotype-I patients wit
h chronic hepatitis C.