Association of circulating CD8 + lymphocytes to a spontaneous and interferon-α induced clearance of HCV

Abstract

The amount of copies of HCV-RNA and count of CD8 + lymphocytes was retrospectively evaluated in 326 patients: sampling was performed in basal condition, during treatment with α-IFN ( n=232) and post-treatment follow-up, and at the same time points in untreated patients ( n=94). In the treated group the difference between CD8 + lymphocytes in the patients successfully treated ( n=65) and those with an unfavourable outcome ( n=176) is statistically significant (898±172 vs., 440±176 CD8 + lymphocytes per mm 3 P<0.005 ANOVA). Also, in the untreated patients the average count of CD8 + cells is statistically higher in patients with a favourable outcome ( P<0.01 ANOVA). The present data show that the count of CD8 + lymphocyte is of clinical value in order to predict the outcome of HCV infection and may be used together with the viral load and genotype, already established predictors.