RANTES, TNF-α, Oxidative Stress and Hematological Abnormalities in Hepatitis C Virus Infection.

Abstract

Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with failures of T-cell–mediated immune clearance and with abnormal B-cell growth and activation.HCVinfection is characterized by a systemic oxidative stress that is most likely caused by acombination of chronic inflammation, iron overload, liver damage, and proteinsencoded by HCV. Following viral infection, multiple pro-inflammatory mediatorscontribute to recruitment of immune cells to the liver and to the generation of an antiviralimmune response. Recent publications mark chemokines and their receptors askey players in leukocyte recirculation through the inflamed liver. The present studyinvolved 75 male subjects, included into two groups: Group1 (n=30) control group;group II (n=45) patients with chronic HCV. For all subjects the followinginvestigations were performed: estimation of the levels of bilirubin, albumin,prothrombin concentration, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), creatinine, α-fetoprotein (AFP), HCV RNA, and activities of alanine and aspartate transaminases(ALT& AST) as well as alkaline phosphatase. Also, Regulated on Activation NormalT Cell Expressed and Secreted (RANTES), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α),malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) were assessed. Plasma HCV-RNAconcentration (viral load) was determined by real time PCR step one using AppliedBiosystem. Complete blood picture was assayed using Abbott cell dyn 3700hematology analyzer. There were significant increase of the levels of RANTES,TNF-α, MDA and NO in HCV infected patients compared with control group (P <0.05)and in these patients, these levels showed significant positive correlation with theHCV RNA viral load. Also, mild leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia,lymphocytosis, with consequent significant increase in the lymphocytes / neutrophils(L/N) ratio were detected in these patients.Conclusion: The data support the concept of chemokines (RANTES) as mediators ofliver cell injury in hepatitis C infection. In addition, MDA and NO levels might beused as monitoring markers for oxidative stress in hepatitis C infection.