Prediction of antiviral efficacy in patients with chronic hepatitis C by changes in forkhead box protein 3 levels

The aim of the present study was to investigate the distribution of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C; in addition to identifying whether the distribution of CD4(+)CD25(+) Tregs predicts the efficacy of antiviral therapy for HCV. The expression of CD4(+)CD25(+) forkhead box protein (FOXP) 3(+) Tregs within a CD4(+) T cell population was detected in the peripheral blood obtained from patients with chronic hepatitis C and from healthy control subjects using flow cytometry. The hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA load was measured using quantitative-fluorescence polymerase chain reaction. CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+) Tregs accounted for 14.24±1.33% of the CD4(+) T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C, which was higher than that of the healthy control subjects (5.62±1.21%; P<0.001). Furthermore, the frequency of CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+) Tregs in CD4(+) T cells of the peripheral blood positively correlated with the HCV-RNA load (r=0.73; P=0.032). Therefore, the results of the present study indicated that the expression of CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+) Tregs increased in patients that were chronically infected with HCV and positively correlated with the HCV-RNA load.