Abstract
BackgroundCo-infection between the human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) can modify the natural history of HCV infection. The aim of this study was to describe the inflammatory cytokines and IL-10 network in patients co-infected with HTLV and HCV viruses in Bahia, Brazil.MethodsSamples from 31 HTLV/HCV co-infected individuals and 27 HCV monoinfected individuals were evaluated. IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-10, IL-8, and IL-1 cytokines were quantified by ELISA. Clinical, laboratory data were obtained from patient records. Serum levels of the cytokines were log10-transformed and data mining was performed using Z-score statistics and correlation analysis.ResultsCo-infected individuals presented a tendency toward higher production of INF-γ compared to the HCV monoinfected group. Regarding cytokine pairs, there was a positive correlation (P-value < 0.05) between IL-1 and IL-8 in the HTLV/HCV co-infected group and uninfected controls, and two correlations in the HCV mono-infected group IL-8 – IL10 and IL- INF-γ – IL-10 pairs. There was no significant difference between the groups for the other parameters analyzed.ConclusionThe results presented herein indicated that HTLV/HCV co-infection was associated with a trend in IFN-γ production while HCV-infected individuals presented a positive correlation with both inflammatory cytokines (IL-8 and IFN-γ) and the regulatory cytokine IL-10.
Highlights
Co-infection with Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus type 1 (HTLV1) or type 2 (HTLV-2) and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been described in countries where both viruses are endemic (Nakashima et al, 1994), occurring mainly among drug users (de la Fuente et al, 2006; Zunt et al, 2006; Berini et al, 2007; Moreira et al, 2013)
It was reported that human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV)/HCV co-infection worsened the progression of HCV infection to hepatocellular carcinoma (Kamihira et al, 1991; Tokunaga et al, 2014), and decreased the sustained virological response of interferon treatment against hepatitis C (Kishihara et al, 2001)
No statistically significant differences were seen between individuals with HTLV/HCV co-infection, HCV-infected patients and controls with respect median age and sex
Summary
Co-infection with Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus type 1 (HTLV1) or type 2 (HTLV-2) and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been described in countries where both viruses are endemic (Nakashima et al, 1994), occurring mainly among drug users (de la Fuente et al, 2006; Zunt et al, 2006; Berini et al, 2007; Moreira et al, 2013). In Brazil, the prevalence of HTLV-1 varies according to the geographic region, in Bahia it is estimated that around 1% (∼130,000) people are infected by this virus (Pereira et al, 2019). The clinical progression and immunological features of HTLV/HCV co-infection remain poorly understood and vary in accordance with geographic region. Studies conducted in Brazil have shown that HTLV may contribute to the spontaneous clearance of HCV in co-infected individuals (Moreira et al, 2013; Le Marchand et al, 2015). The aim of this study was to describe the inflammatory cytokines and IL-10 network in patients co-infected with HTLV and HCV viruses in Bahia, Brazil
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