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Intrinsic Viral Factors Are the Dominant Determinants of the Hepatitis C Virus Response to Interferon Alpha Treatment in Chimeric Mice

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus infection is a global health problem. New direct-acting antiviral agents have been recently approved. However, due to their high cost and some genotypes remaining difficult to treat, interferon-based therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin likely may remain a co...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Chen, Ran, Kobewka, Michelle, Addison, William, Lachance, Gerald, Tyrrell, D. Lorne
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4713165/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26765841
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147007
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus infection is a global health problem. New direct-acting antiviral agents have been recently approved. However, due to their high cost and some genotypes remaining difficult to treat, interferon-based therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin likely may remain a component of hepatitis C virus treatment for some patients. Unfortunately, pegylated interferon / ribavirin treatment achieved favorable outcomes in less than 50% of patients. Factors determining the outcome to pegylated interferon / ribavirin include both host and viral factors. It has been a major challenge to separate the host and viral factors in most in vivo systems. AIMS & METHODS: We used two hepatitis C virus strains from patients with different interferon-sensitivities and three hepatocyte donors, each with distinct interleukin 28B and interferon lambda 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms to investigate the contributions of viral and host factors to the response of hepatitis C virus to interferon treatment in chimeric mice. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We found that viral factors were the dominant factors in determining the interferon treatment outcomes in chimeric mice. Host factors, such as pre-treatment liver interferon-stimulated gene expression and single nucleotide polymorphisms near interleukin 28B and interferon lambda 4 coding regions, were less important determinants of the response to interferon in the chimeric mice than they were in patients. Our results also suggest that a complete immune system as seen in patients may be required for host factors such as single nucleotide polymorphisms near interleukin 28B / interferon lambda 4 and pre-treatment liver interferon-stimulated gene upregulation to have an effect on the interferon response.