Regulatory and activated effector T cells in chronic hepatitis C virus: Relation to autoimmunity

Abstract

AIMTo investigate how Tregs are regulated in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients via assessment of Tregs markers (granzyme 2, CD69 and FoxP3), Teffs markers [TNFRSF4 (OX40), INFG] and CD4, CD25 genes.METHODSA prospective study was conducted on 120 subjects divided into 4 groups: Group I (n = 30) treatment naïve chronic HCV patients; Group II (n = 30) chronic HCV treated with Peg/Riba; Group III (n = 30) chronic HCV associated with non-organ specific autoantibody and Group IV (n = 30) healthy persons as a control group. Tregs and Teffs markers were assessed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by quantitative real time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.RESULTSChronic HCV patients exhibited significant higher levels of both Teffs and Tregs in comparison to healthy control group. Tregs markers were significantly decreased in Peg/Riba treated HCV patients in comparison to treatment naïve HCV group. In HCV patients with antinuclear antibody (ANA) +ve, Tregs markers were significantly decreased in comparison to all other studied groups. Teffs markers were significantly elevated in all HCV groups in comparison to control and in HCV group with ANA +ve in comparison to treatment naïve HCV group.CONCLUSIONElevated Tregs cells in chronic HCV patients dampen both CD4+ and CD8+ autologous T cell immune response. Interferon-α and ribavirin therapy suppress proliferation of Tregs. More significant suppression of Tregs was observed in HCV patients with autoantibodies favoring pathological autoimmune response.

A prospective study on Foxp3+CD25highCD4+ regulatory T cells in chronic hepatitis C infected patients undergoing direct-acting antiviral combination therapy

“…Tsang and colleagues, in accordance with our results, reported an elevated Treg frequency in blood of chronic HCV patients with no correlation to liver function 22 . Similarly, Fouad et al in a recent Egyptian study showed that chronic HCV patients exhibited significant higher levels of circulating Tregs and FoxP3 expression in comparison to healthy control group which decreased significantly after peg-IFN ribavirin therapy 29 . Another Egyptian study found no correlation between circulating Tregs and any laboratory parameters including liver functions and viral load 30 .…”

Polymorphisms in the TGFB1 and FOXP3 genes are associated with the presence of antinuclear antibodies in chronic hepatitis C

“…In the context of liver autoimmune diseases marked by the presence of ANA, the loss of tolerance in the liver results from the loss of inhibitory functions of the immune system that results mainly from the decrease in quantity and function of the Treg cells ( Liberal et al., 2015 ). In patients with chronic HCV infection and ANA positivity, suppression of Treg cells was observed, with a reduction in cellular markers, including FOXP3 ( Fouad et al., 2016 ).…”