Interferon alpha receptors and STAT1 as therapy predictors of a sustained virological response in hepatitis C/B co-infection.
OBJECTIVE
: To determine the expression of interferon alpha receptors 1 and 2 along with signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of both hepatitis C mono-infected and hepatitis C and B co-infected patients, and to assess whether these targeted genes predict sustained virological response to interferon therapy.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study was carried out at the Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from January 2012 to December 2015, and comprised hepatitis C mono-infected and hepatitis C and B co-infected patients. The patients were divided into groups 1 and 2. Group-1a and group-2a consisted of mono-infected and co-infected sustained responders, while group-1b and group-2b had mono-infected and co-infected non sustained responders. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy controls were also quantified for these subunits. Target gene expressions were studied by retro-transcription of respective messenger ribonuclieic acid extracted from the cells followed by polymerase chain reaction amplification.


RESULTS
Of the 191 subjects, there were 20(10.5%) in group-1a, 35(18.3%) in group-2a, 65(34%) in group-1b and 51(26.7%) in group-2b. The remaining 20(10.5%) were controls. Overall, 106 (55.5%) were males and 85 (44.5%) were females. Interferon alpha receptor 1 expression in groups 1a and 2a was significantly higher compared to groups 1b (p=0.018) and 2b (p 0.031). Signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 protein expression showed no significant difference (p=0.062 and p=0.519). No difference in expression was measured between the two sets of groups with regard to interferon alpha receptor 2 expression (p=0.278 and p=0.590).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that levels of IFNAR-1 mRNA expression may be a good predictor for IFN-related anti-viral activity in both HCV mono infected and HCV/HBV co-infected patients.
['Asim|Maleha|M|', 'Rashid|Amir|A|', 'Khan|Ahmed|A|']
D000328:Adult D000914:Antibodies, Viral D060085:Coinfection D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D004279:DNA, Viral D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay D005260:Female D005786:Gene Expression Regulation D016174:Hepacivirus D006515:Hepatitis B virus D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic D006801:Humans D000077190:Interferon alpha-2 D016898:Interferon-alpha D008297:Male D011092:Polyethylene Glycols D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction D053633:Receptor, Interferon alpha-beta D011994:Recombinant Proteins D012189:Retrospective Studies D012254:Ribavirin D050794:STAT1 Transcription Factor
Hepatitis C virus, Hepatitis B virus, Interferon alpha receptor 1, Interferon alpha receptor 2 , In ter feron th erapy resp onse, Si gnal tran sd ucer and a c tiv ator of transcription 1