MRNA expressions of Toll–like receptor 3, 7 and type I interferons in peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C

Abstract

Objective To investigate mRNA expressions of Toll–like receptors (TLR3 and TLR7) and type I interferons (IFN–α and IFN–β) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Methods Thirty patients with CHC and 30 healthy controls were collected from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University during September 2013 and May 2014. Liver function was detected using enzyme–linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). mRNA expressions of TLR3, TLR7, IFN–α and IFN–β were detected by real–time quantitative PCR, and their relative expression values were obtained by 2–ΔΔCt method. The t test was performed for the comparison of mean differences between CHC patients and healthy controls, and Pearson analysis was used to analyze the correlations between TLR mRNA and IFN mRNA, liver function, HCV RNA load. Results Taking mRNA expressions in healthy control group as 1, the relative mRNA expressions of TLR3, TLR7, IFN–α and IFN–β in CHC group were 0.086, 0.633, 0.145 and 0.423 respectively (t=4.25, 2.39, 2.37 and 2.80, all P 0.05). Conclusion The mRNA expressions of TLR3, TLR7 and IFN–α, IFN–β decrease in CHC patients, and the mRNA expressions of TLR3 and TLR7 are positively correlated with that of IFN–β, indicating that increasing the expression of TLRs might be a new strategy in CHC treatment. Key words: Hepatitis C, chronic; Interferon type Ⅰ; Toll–like receptor 3; Toll–like receptor 7; Real–time quantitative polymerase chain reaction