Enhanced Levels of Interleukin-8 Are Associated with Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Resistance to Interferon-Alpha Therapy

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the expression levels of IL-8 in serum and liver tissues from patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection and to investigate whether IL-8 may antagonize interferon-alpha (IFN-α) antiviral activity against HBV. IL-8 expression in serum was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and fluorescence-based quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to measure IL-8 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with CHB. IL-8 protein expression was detected in liver biopsy tissues by immunohistochemistry. In addition, the differences in serum IL-8 and PBMCs mRNA levels were also observed in patients with different anti-viral responses to IFN-α. Compared to normal controls, serum IL-8 protein and mRNA levels were increased in CHB patients, IL-8 levels were positively correlated with the severity of liver inflammation/fibrosis. Moreover, serum IL-8 protein and mRNA levels were positively correlated with serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level and negatively correlated with serum prealbumin (PA) level. IL-8 expression was mainly located in portal area of liver tissues and was increased with the severity of liver inflammation and fibrosis stage. The expression serum and mRNA levels of IL-8 in the CHB patients with a complete response to IFN-α are significantly lower than that of the patients with non-response to IFN-α treatment. It is suggested that IL-8 might play important roles in the pathogenesis of CHB. Moreover, interferon resistance may be related to the up-regulation of IL-8 expression in the patients did not respond to IFN-α treatment.

HSP70 is Associated with the Severity of Inflammation in Chronic Rhinosinusitis

“…9 The level of IL-8 in nasal secretion was ∼40 times higher compared with the level of IL-8 in normal blood samples. 40 Based on our results, the level of HSP70 in nasal secretion was ∼60 times higher compared with previously reported levels of blood HSP70. 41 Although the normal value of HSP70 in nasal lavage fluid samples is not yet determined, we found that the level of HSP70 was much lower in control subjects compared with patients with CRS (data not shown).…”

Therapeutic Potential of OMe-PS-miR-29b1 for Treating Liver Fibrosis

“…IL-8 is a chemokine, which plays a crucial role in the activation of neutrophils and their recruitment to the inflammation site, and its expression increases with the staging of fibrosis. 44 IL-8 mediates the recruitment of various inflammatory cells like Th, which secretes inflammatory mediators, including IL-1, leading to repeated inflammation and damage to liver function, 45,46 whereas IL-10 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine that was also found to be increased after micelle treatment. Increased IL-10 has been reported upon systemic administration of siRNA in general.…”

Increased CD86 but Not CD80 and PD-L1 Expression on Liver CD68+ Cells during Chronic HBV Infection

“…IL-8 contributes to liver inflammation and fibrosis by increasing the accumulation of CD181 + macrophages in the liver [ 48 ]. Interestingly, the levels of IL-8 are increased during HBV infection [ 49 ], which suggests that IL-8 might be causing an accumulation of CD181 + macrophages in the HBV-infected liver. Of note, polymorphism in the CXCR1 gene was found to be associated with the disease activity during chronic HBV infection [ 50 ].…”