Modifications of T-Lymphocyte Subsets before and during Interferon and Ribavirin Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis C Infection

Abstract

Our purpose was to determine in HCV-infected patients whether T-lymphocyte sub-populations were modified before and during interferon-alpha and ribavirin treatment, and whether this correlated with virological response. Twenty-two naive patients were given IFN-α 3 Million Units three times per week for 24 or 48 weeks and ribavirin. Sustained virological response corresponded to undetectable serum HCV RNA at treatment completion and 6 months later. Total blood lymphocyte counts and CD3⁺CD4⁺, CD3⁺CD8⁺, CD3⁺CD4⁺HLA-DR⁺, and CD3⁺CD8⁺HLA-DR⁺ lymphocyte subsets evaluated before, during, and after treatment were compared to values from 37 healthy subjects. At inclusion, patients and controls had similar total lymphocyte counts. CD3⁺CD4⁺ counts and percentages were significantly higher in HCV patients. HLA-DR expression was also increased in CD4⁺ (p < 0.0001) and CD8⁺ T-cells (p = 0.0008) as compared with controls. During treatment, all lymphocyte subset counts and percentage decreased except the CD3⁺CD4⁺ T-cell percentage which increased. Moreover, after 1 month of treatment, virological responders exhibited higher CD4⁺ counts than nonresponders (p = 0.025), whereas they did not differ at inclusion or during the 2nd to 6th months of treatment. After treatment completion, all populations returned to baseline values. These results suggest that CD3⁺CD4⁺ T-lymphocyte percentage increase under treatment could be related to IFN immunomodulation and associated with virological response.