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

Chang,Jia‑Bao; Xue,Rong; Zhou,Zhen‑Xian; Feng,Yan‑Hong; Dai,Wei‑Wei; Qiu,Jie; Yang,Yong‑Feng

doi:10.3892/etm.2014.1675

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

Authors:
- Jia‑Bao Chang
- Rong Xue
- Zhen‑Xian Zhou
- Yan‑Hong Feng
- Wei‑Wei Dai
- Jie Qiu
- Yong‑Feng Yang
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Affiliations: Department of Liver Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210007, P.R. China
Published online on: April 8, 2014 https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2014.1675
Pages: 165-168

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Abstract

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.

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