Association of Interleukin–18 with Sustained Virological Response (SVR) To Interferon Therapy in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases

Background: Pegylated interferon plus ribavirin is the standard therapy for treatment of Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients, this therapy is only effective in 50–60% of infected individuals. Pretreatment predictors associated with sustained virological response (SVR) to interferon treatment have not yet been fully investigated. Several factors have been shown to influence response to antiviral treatment, one of them is interleukin – 18 (IL18). There are few data on IL-18 in relation to infectious diseases, but it plays a prominent role in chronic HCV infection. Thus, the current study is designated to assess serum Interleukin – 18 levels in CHC genotype 4 patients and its association with treatment response. Patients and Methods: This study was performed on fifty Egyptian chronic hepatitis C patients, who received combined pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin therapy and twenty healthy blood donors as a control group. Quantitative hepatitis C virus RNA was done by real time RT-PCR technique. Serum IL-18 level was assayed using quantitative ELISA plate method. Results: The mean level of IL18 was significantly higher in CHC patients (212.15 Pg/ml) compared to the controls (48.95 Pg/ml). IL-18 level in responders was significantly reduced after 6 months from the end of treatment compared to those at baseline level (P=0.001), but such decrease was lower than that in non responders (P=0.058). IL-18 level was positively correlated with high and moderate viral load in non responders. Conclusions: Serum IL18 level has the potential to be used as a biological marker to predict outcome of antiviral therapy among CHC genotype 4 patients. [Waleed S. Mohamed, Samah A. Loutfy, Amal A. Mohamed and Marwa Amer. Association of Interleukin–18 with Sustained Virological Response (SVR) To Interferon Therapy in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):4542-4550]. (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 681