Monokine production by peripheral whole blood in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with interferon.

Using our scoring system, we studied the production of monokines (interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-6) by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated peripheral whole blood in 34 patients with chronic hepatitis C during the interferon-alpha/beta therapy. It decreased in 25.7% (9/35 group A), fluctuated in 60.0% (21/35, group B), and increased in 14.3% (5/35, group C). The patients in group A were younger than those in group B (P < 0.05). The histological grade of injury was milder in group A than in group B or C. The rate of sustained response was 66.7% (6/9) in group A, 19.0% (4/21) in group B, and 40.0% (2/5) in group C(P = 0.0184, group A versus group B). In summary, monokine production by peripheral whole blood varied during interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C patients. No significant change was noted in 60% of the patients. However, patients with decreased monokine production were younger, with a mild histological grade, and likely to respond to the interferon therapy.