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[Relationship between intrahepatic HCV-specific CTL activity and response to interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis C].

BACKGROUND
To study the relationship between intrahepatic hepatitis C virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (HCV-CTL) activity and response to interferon (IFN) therapy in chronic hepatitis C.


METHODS
45 patients with chronic hepatitis C who received IFN-alpha therapy were evaluated for HCV-specific CTL in the liver before treatment with standard chromium release assay. The relationship between treatment response and HCV-CTL activity was analyzed.


RESULTS
HCV-CTL activity was detected in 20 (44.4%) of the 45 IFN-treated patients. Of the 42 patients who completed a 6-month course therapy, 19 had detectable HCV-CTL activity, 23 had no detectable HCV-CTL activity. After 6 months of IFN therapy, 18 of 42 (42.9%) patients received an end-of-treatment complete response (ETR). After 6-12 months of follow-up, 10 patients (23.8%) had a sustained response (SR). Of the 19 patients with detectable HCV-CTL activity, 15 (78.9%) developed an ETR. In contrast, only 3 of the 23 patients with no detectable HCV-CTL activity developed an ETR to IFN (P <0.01). All the 10 patients who got a sustained response were those with detectable HCV-CTL activity. Conclusion The host immune response, particularly that mediated by CD8+ HCV-CTL, may be very important in determining the outcome of IFN therapy for the patients with chronic hepatitis C.