EOSINOPHILIA TRIGGERED BY INTERFERON-BETA THERAPY FOR CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C

The authors describe a case of eosinophilia occurring in an atopic pat ient suffering from chronic active hepatitis C following a 2-week cour se with beta-interferon. Since the most common causes of eosinophilia were ruled out by laboratory and instrumental investigations, the auth ors suggest a possible role of beta-interferon in triggering eosinophi lia, in light of current beliefs about the factors modulating eosinoph il growth, differentiation and survival. In particular, it has been su pposed that the inhibitory effect of beta-interferon on interferon pro duction could have triggered a preferential expansion of Th2 type T-he lper cells whose particular profile of cytokine secretion has been sho wn to play a crucial role in the development of eosinophilia. To the a uthors' knowledge, this is the first report of eosinophilia induced by beta-interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C.