[Assessment of the values of immune response mediators in patients with acute hepatitis C receiving combined antiviral therapy].

The spectrum ofcytokines was studied in 32 patients with acute hepatitis C (AHC) on combined antiviral therapy (A VT) with realdiron plus ribavirin and in 30 patients with acute HCVinfection on basic therapy (control group). The content of immune response mediators in blood serum was measured by immune enzyme assay using test systems produced by Proteinovy Konntur (Saint Petersburg). AHC patients on A VT displayed a more prominent decrease in the levels of interleukins (IL-1beta, IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) vs. controls during the second week of treatment. This fact may be explained by antifibrotic effect of interferon-alpha, (IF-alpha) and ribavarin, which is connected with suppression of hepatic stellate cells. Upon the completion of the treatment, patients with AHC displayed a significant increase in IL-2, IF-alpha, and IF-beta levels due to natural biological mechanisms of interaction between antiviral mechanisms and the human organism. In addition to antiviral action, certain immunoregulative effects of AVT were noted. The significant increase in IL-2, IF-alpha, and IF-beta during the second week of AVT in patients with a stable virusological response demonstrated a high effector potential of Th 1 lymphocytes, which favored suppression of active viral replcation, and viral elimination.