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 Printable version |
Pretreatment expression of the perforin gene vy circulating CD8+ T lymphocytes predicts biochemical response to interferon alpha in patients with chronic hepatitis C. |
European Cytokine Network. Volume 11, Number 2, 177-84, June 2000, Articles originaux
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 Free Article
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Author(s) : A. Balian, S. Naveau, W. Zou, I. Durand-Gasselin, L. Bouchet, A. Foussat, P. Galanaud, J.-C. Chaput, D. Emilie |
Summary : It would be of great value to be able to predict, before the initiation of treatment, which patients with hepatitis C virus-induced chronic hepatitis will be cured by interferon-alpha (IFN-a). Competitive RT-PCR was used to evaluate spontaneous expression of the perforin gene, a marker of cytotoxic cell activation, by circulating mononuclear cells in 17 patients undergoing IFN-a treatment. IFN-a increased perforin gene expression (p < 0.003), but this was not correlated with outcome. In contrast, pretreatment perforin gene expression levels were higher in the 8 patients with a sustained biochemical response after treatment than in the 9 non-responsive patients (p = 0.01). This factor predicted favorable clinical outcome with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 89%. Thus, pretreatment immunological status has a major influence on the ability of IFN-a to cure chronic hepatitis C, and the evaluation of perforin gene expression may help to select patients that will benefit from IFN-a treatment. |
Keywords : perforin, hepatitis C, interferon-alpha, cytotoxic T lymphocyte. |
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