Cytokine—chemokine and apoptotic signatures in patients with hepatitis C

Combined effect of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine gene polymorphisms on susceptibility to liver cirrhosis in Tunisian HCV-infected patients

“…Similarly, the involvement of IL-18, well known for its contribution to the stimulation of Th1 response and the induction of inflammatory cytokines, has already been thoroughly investigated [21,22]. Several studies including ours have reported a positive correlation between IL-18 level and hepatitis C severity [10,[23][24][25][26].…”

“…Different proinflammatory cytokines including IL-18 and IFN-c have been associated to fibrosis severity and cirrhosis [10,[14][15][16][23][24][25][26]. IL-18 and IFN-c synthesis is downregulated by IL-10, a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine that also has a modulatory effect on hepatic fibrogenesis [17,57,58].…”

The role of chemokines in acute and chronic hepatitis C infection

“…73,74 Moreover, an increase in serum CCL2 correlates with progressive liver inflammation in infected persons compared to healthy individuals. 75 IFN-inducible CCL2 is released by KCs in the early phase of infection and its secretion promotes the first wave of infiltrating monocytes including CCR2 1 plasmacytoid DCs. 76,77 Activated plasmacytoid DCs release type I IFN, TNF-a, CCL4 and CXCL10, and stimulate CCL2 secretion by other IFN-inducible cell types.…”

“…86 Neutrophil chemotaxis may be enhanced further by an increase in vascular permeability mediated by TNF-a, thus contributing to increased levels of IL-8 within the liver. 75 Furthermore, the release of reactive oxygen species from granulocytes and macrophages is known to modulate the transcriptional activity of NF-kB, thereby affecting IL-8 expression. 82 Hepatic IL-8 is detected at low maintenance levels during acute HCV infection, although marked increases in serum and hepatic levels have been observed in HCV-infected patients with progressive inflammation and cirrhosis as compared to healthy controls.…”

Serum cytokines as biomarkers of disease and clues to pathogenesis

“…6 A recent multicenter study of 778 chronic hepatitis C patients correlated the level of serum cytokines with the degree of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. 7 A positive correlation was found between the serum TNF-␣ levels and the degree of hepatic inflammation in patients without cirrhosis versus patients with cirrhosis. In addition, TNF-␣ induces IL-8 production, and IL-8 was found to be significantly increased in those patients with higher histological activity and continued to increase in patients with cirrhosis.…”