Adminstration of PEG-Interferon to a Patient with Ulcerative Colitis and Chronic Hepatitis C Correlated with Reduced Colonic Inflammation and Reversal of Peripheral Th1/Th2 Ratios

A 42-year-old man with chronic hepatitis C and ulcerative colitis (UC) was referred to our hospital in August 2004 because of bloody diarrhea. He was clinically and endoscopically diagnosed with flare of UC. After informed consent had been obtained, he was treated with PEG-IFN-α-2a. Four weeks after initiation of PEG-IFN therapy, his abdominal symptoms gradually subsided. Intracellular cytokine assay revealed that the ratio of T-helper (Th) 1 (IFN-?)/Th 2 (IL-4) increased after IFN therapy. Three months after starting IFN therapy, colonoscopy revealed a normal mucosal pattern. He was uneventfully treated with PEG-IFN-α-2a for one year. When last seen in November 2006, he was still in remission of UC. Our intracellular cytokine data suggested that alteration of Th1/Th2 cytokine balance by IFN is one possible mechanisms of reducing intestinal inflammation in patients with UC. In this regard, IFN therapy could be useful for some patients with UC refractory to other conventional therapies.