The roles of serum IL-18, IL-10, TNF-α and sIL-2R in patients with chronic hepatitis C

To identify the roles of serum IL-18, IL-10, TNF-α and sIL-2R in the pathogenisis of chronichepatitis C and the effects of interferon on the men-tioned serum cytokines.Methods: The levels of IL-18, IL-10, TNF-α andsIL-2R were detected in 10 healthy controls, 24 a-symptomatic HCV carriers, and 27 patients withchronic hepatitis C (before and after IFN treatment)by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results: The levels of IL-18, IL-10, TNF-α and sIL-2R in the patients of chronic hepatitis C were higherthan those in the healthy controls (P<0.05) and inasymptomatic HCV carriers (P<0. 05). The valuesof the mentioned cytokines showed a significant posi-tive correlation to GPT. The levels of the mentionedcytokines decreased obviously after IFN treatment (P<0. 05), while the serum levels of IL-10 and sIL-2Rreduced in sequence in no-response group, partial-response group and complete-response group.Conclusions: IL-18, IL-10, TNF-α and sIL-2R co-participate in the pathogenisis of chronic hepatitis C,and are used to evaluate the effect of IFN on the im-mune state of organisms, and IL-10 and sIL-2R areimportant for predicting the anti-viral efficacy ofIFN.