PMID- 17659573 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20070830 LR - 20221207 IS - 0270-9139 (Print) IS - 0270-9139 (Linking) VI - 46 IP - 2 DP - 2007 Aug TI - Selective decrease in hepatitis C virus-specific immunity among African Americans and outcome of antiviral therapy. PG - 350-8 AB - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, end-stage liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma throughout the world. Considerable evidence indicates that the risk of viral persistence, natural history, and response to antiviral therapy varies among racial groups, but limited data exist on potential mechanisms to account for these differences. Type 1 helper (Th1) responses to HCV proteins and cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigens were examined using a sensitive interferon (IFN)-gamma enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay in 187 Caucasian American (CA) and 187 African American (AA) patients with chronic genotype 1 infection. ELISPOT responses were examined relative to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II alleles and outcome of therapy with pegylated IFN and ribavirin. Th1 responses specific to hepatitis C core protein and combined HCV antigens were significantly lower in AAs compared to CAs, but CMV responses were comparable in the 2 races. The HCV difference in immunity remained after adjusting for gender, serum alanine aminotransferase, histologic severity, and viral level, and was not accounted for by the differential prevalence of human leukocyte antigen class II alleles. Pretreatment total HCV-specific CD4+ T cell response was associated with sustained virologic response (SVR) to pegylated IFN and ribavirin; 43% of patients who had more than 168 ELISPOTs/10(6) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (above background) experienced SVR compared to 28% of those who did not (P= 0.007). ELISPOT response was independently associated with SVR by multivariable analysis. CONCLUSION: Compared to CAs, AAs have weaker HCV-specific immunity. Pretreatment HCV-specific immunity is associated with response to combination antiviral therapy. FAU - Rosen, Hugo R AU - Rosen HR AD - Integrated Program in Immunology and Hepatitis C Research Center, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA. hugo.rosen@uchsc.edu FAU - Weston, Scott J AU - Weston SJ FAU - Im, KyungAh AU - Im K FAU - Yang, Huiying AU - Yang H FAU - Burton, James R Jr AU - Burton JR Jr FAU - Erlich, Henry AU - Erlich H FAU - Klarquist, Jared AU - Klarquist J FAU - Belle, Steven H AU - Belle SH CN - Virahep-C Study Group LA - eng GR - M01 RR000042/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States GR - M01 RR000046/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60309/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60324/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60327/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60329/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60335/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60340/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60341/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60342/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60344/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60345/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60346/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60349/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - U01 DK60352/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States GR - Intramural NIH HHS/United States PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural PT - Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't PL - United States TA - Hepatology JT - Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) JID - 8302946 RN - 0 (Antiviral Agents) RN - 0 (Interferon alpha-2) RN - 0 (Interferon-alpha) RN - 0 (Recombinant Proteins) RN - 3WJQ0SDW1A (Polyethylene Glycols) RN - 49717AWG6K (Ribavirin) RN - 82115-62-6 (Interferon-gamma) RN - Q46947FE7K (peginterferon alfa-2a) SB - IM MH - Adult MH - Black or African American MH - Alleles MH - Antiviral Agents/*therapeutic use MH - Cytomegalovirus/immunology MH - Female MH - Genes, MHC Class II MH - Hepatitis C/drug therapy/ethnology/*immunology/virology MH - Humans MH - Interferon alpha-2 MH - Interferon-alpha/administration & dosage MH - Interferon-gamma/biosynthesis MH - Male MH - Middle Aged MH - Polyethylene Glycols/administration & dosage MH - Recombinant Proteins MH - Ribavirin/administration & dosage MH - Th1 Cells/immunology MH - White People EDAT- 2007/07/31 09:00 MHDA- 2007/08/31 09:00 CRDT- 2007/07/31 09:00 PHST- 2007/07/31 09:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2007/08/31 09:00 [medline] PHST- 2007/07/31 09:00 [entrez] AID - 10.1002/hep.21714 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Hepatology. 2007 Aug;46(2):350-8. doi: 10.1002/hep.21714.