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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
A Protocol for Analyzing Hepatitis C Virus Replication
Published on: June 26, 2014
Differential expression of toll-like receptor mRNA in treatment non-responders and sustained virologic responders at
Qi He1, Camilla S Graham, Emanuele Durante Mangoni
1Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Institutes of Medicine, Boston, MA 02115, USA. qhe@bidmc.harvard.edu
Background/Aims:
The contribution of the host immune response to sustained virologic response is not clear in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). The aim of this study was to explore the relationship of the toll-like receptor (TLR) expression with the outcome of antiviral therapy in hepatitis C viral infection.
Methods:
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained from 15 CHC patients before a 48-week treatment with pegylated interferon (PEG IFN) alpha-2a and ribavirin. A multiplex semi-quantitative reverse-trancriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to compare the relative abundance of TLR2-9 transcripts.
Results:
mRNA levels of TLR2, 3 and 6 were significantly higher in CHC subjects compared with normal controls (n=8). When patients were classified into non-responders (n=8) and sustained virological responders (n=7) according to the virological outcome of the treatment, there was a clear difference in baseline mRNA expression of TLRs and T-helper (Th) 1/2 cytokines. In addition, the mRNA expression of IFN-gamma and nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT), which is exclusively expressed in activated T cells, was inversely correlated with that of TLR4, 6 and 9 in non-responders.
Conclusions:
TLRs mRNA levels are differentially expressed in baseline PBMC of chronic HCV-infected subjects with or without responsiveness to antiviral therapy.
