serum islet cell autoantibodies during interferon α treatment in patients with hcv-genotype 4 chronic hepatitis血清胰岛细胞自身抗体在干扰素α治疗hcv-genotype 4慢性肝炎患者.pdf

Clinical Developmental Immunology, March 2006; 13(1): 11–15 Serum islet cell autoantibodies during interferon a treatment in patients with HCV-genotype 4 chronic hepatitis 1 1 2,3 1 GAMAL BADRA , IMAM WAKED , CARLO SELMI , SALEH M. SALEH , AHMED EL-SHAARAWY4, MAHMOUD LOTFY5 1Department of Hepatology, National Liver Institute, Minufiya University, Minufiya, Egypt, 2Division of Internal Medicine, San Paolo School of Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy, 3Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Clinical Immunology, University of California, Davis, California, USA, 4Clinical Pathology Division, National Liver Institute, Minufiya University, Minufiya, Egypt, and 5Molecular and Cellular Biology Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, Minufiya University, Sadat City, Minufiya, Egypt Abstract Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a leading cause of end-stage liver disease worldwide and HCV genotype 4 (HCV4) is predominant in African and Middle Eastern countries. It is well established that interferon-a (IFNa) treatment for HCV may trigger serum autoantibodies against pancreatic islet cells (ICA) in a subgroup of patients. Available data on the incidence of ICA during IFNa therapy for chronic HCV4 infection are not conclusive. We investigated the appearance of ICA in 40 naı¨ve Egyptian patients (38 males, 32 ^ 6 years) with histologically defined chronic HCV4 infection undergoing IFNa treatment at a dose of 9-million U/week for 24 weeks. Serum samples were collected at baseline and following IFNa therapy and ICA were detected using indirect immunofluorescence. Baseline evaluation indicated that 2/40 (5%) patients had detectable serum ICA. After the completion of the treatment scheme, 12/38 (32%) previously ICA negative patients became ICA positive; however, no patient