Prediction of antiviral efficacy in patients with chronic hepatitis C by changes in forkhead box protein 3 levels

• Published in: Experimental and therapeutic medicine Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 165 - 168
• Main Authors: CHANG, JIA-BAO, XUE, RONG, ZHOU, ZHEN-XIAN, FENG, YAN-HONG, DAI, WEI-WEI, QIU, JIE, YANG, YONG-FENG
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece D.A. Spandidos 01.07.2014; Spandidos Publications; Spandidos Publications UK Ltd
• Subjects: Antiviral agents; Antiviral drugs; CD4+CD25+ forkhead box P3+ regulatory T cells; chronic hepatitis C; Dosage and administration; Drug therapy; Health aspects; Hepatitis C; hepatitis C virus-RNA load; Interferon; Liver; Patient outcomes; Studies; T cells; Transcription factors; Viral infections; China; hepatitis C virus-RNA load; CD4+CD25+ forkhead box P3+ regulatory T cells; chronic hepatitis C
• ISSN: 1792-0981; 1792-1015
• DOI: 10.3892/etm.2014.1675

The aim of the present study was to investigate the distribution of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C; in addition to identifying whether the distribution of CD4+CD25+ Tregs predicts the efficacy of antiviral therapy for HCV. The expression of CD4+CD25+ forkhead box protein (FOXP) 3+ Tregs within a CD4+ T cell population was detected in the peripheral blood obtained from patients with chronic hepatitis C and from healthy control subjects using flow cytometry. The hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA load was measured using quantitative-fluorescence polymerase chain reaction. CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Tregs accounted for 14.24±1.33% of the CD4+ T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C, which was higher than that of the healthy control subjects (5.62±1.21%; P<0.001). Furthermore, the frequency of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Tregs in CD4+ T cells of the peripheral blood positively correlated with the HCV-RNA load (r=0.73; P=0.032). Therefore, the results of the present study indicated that the expression of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Tregs increased in patients that were chronically infected with HCV and positively correlated with the HCV-RNA load.