Th1 Cytokine Profiles in Hepatitis C Virus Infected Patients and Their Contribution to Inflammatory Responses.

Th1 cytokines are required for host antiviral immune responses. However little is known about the production and progression of cytokines in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients. The aim of this study was to assess the serum levels of Th1 cytokines and also their association with inflammatory indicators in HCV-infected and normal individuals. Fifty four HCV-infected patients along with thirty one healthy controls were selected using the sequential sampling method. Serum levels of interleukine-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-alfa (TNF-α) was determined in all the precipitants by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Moreover serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartat aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), C-reactive protein (CRP) and rheumatoid factor (RF) were also determined in both patient and control groups. The results showed that serum levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-2 were higher in HCV-infected patients than controls group but the difference was significant only for TNF-α (p<0.05). A positive correlation was found between the serum level of TNF-α and IL-2 in patient group (p<0.05). TNF-α is the main mediator of the acute inflammatory responses to microbial infections and in our study serum level of TNF-α in HCV-infected patients was higher than healthy subjects. Positive correlation of serum TNF-α and IL-2 levels in HCV-infected patients may contribute to the role of innate immunity in stimulating the adaptive immune responses, thus suggests role of TNF-α in antibody production.