[Relationship between the level of serum TNF-alpha of patients with chronic hepatitis C and treatment with interferon-alpha and the influencing factors].

Objective To assess the relationship between the level of serum TNF-α of chronic hepatitis C with severity of disease and curative effect of anti-virus therapy with interferon α. Methods Thirty healthy controls and 102 patients with chronic hepatitis C were recruited into this study. The level of serum TNF-α was determined by ELISA in both groups. Then the 102 patients with chronic hepatitis C were evaluated after being classified into mild (44 eases), moderate (34 cases), and severe types (24 cases) based on the results of liver function tests. Liver functions, viral load and genotype of HCV RNA were measured. Results Before anti-virus treatment, the level of fasting serum TNF-α in the patients with chronic hepatitis C (1) was higher than that of the normal controls; (2) in the cases with mild type was lower than that in the moderate and severe groups; (3) serum TNF-α was not associated with the HCV load; (4) serum TNF-α was not significantly different between HCV subtypes lb and 2a; (5) serum TNF-α was not significantly different between the patients responsive and non-responsive to the anti-vires treatment; (6) serum TNF-α was positively correlated with the level of serum direct bilirubin, negatively correlated with cholinesterase (CHE). Conclusions The level of fasting serum TNF-α in the patients with chronic hepatitis was higher than that in the normal controls, and was positively correlated with the severity of the disease but not correlated with the therapeutic effect of interferon-α. Key words: Tumor necrosis factor;  Hepatitis C chronic;  Hepatitis/therapy;  Interferon-alpha