Hepatitis C virus quantification in serum and saliva of HCV-infected patients.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be detected in blood and other bodily fluids, such as saliva, semen and gastric juices. The aim of this study was to compare the HCV viral loads in the serum and saliva of infected patients. Twenty-nine patients with detectable HCV RNA in their serum and saliva were included in this study.

Increased frequency of CD56Bright NK-cells, CD3-CD16+CD56- NK-cells and activated CD4+T-cells or B-cells in parallel with CD4+CDC25High T-cells control potentially viremia in blood donors with HCV.

A detailed phenotypic analysis of major and minor circulating lymphocyte subsets is described in potential blood donors with markers of hepatitis C virus (HCV), including non-viremic and viremic groups. Although there were no changes in the hematological profile of either group, increased the levels of pre-NK cells (CD3-CD16+CD56-) and a lower frequency of mature NK cells (CD3-CD16+CD56+) characterized innate immunity in the non-viremic group. Both non-viremic and viremic groups displayed significantly increased levels of CD56(Bright) NK cells.

Association of TGF-beta1 codon 25 (G915C) polymorphism with hepatitis C virus infection.

Cytokines play a key role in the regulation of immune responses. In hepatitis C virus infection (HCV), the production of abnormal cytokine levels appears to contribute to the progression of the disease, viral persistence, and affects response to therapy. Cytokine genes are polymorphic at specific sites, and certain polymorphisms located within coding/regulatory regions have been shown to affect the overall expression and secretion of cytokines.