Dendritic cell co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory markers in chronic HCV: An Egyptian study

AIM:To assess co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory markers of dendritic cells(DCs)in hepatitis C virus(HCV)infected subjects with and without uremia.METHODS:Three subject groups were included in the study:group 1 involved 50 control subjects,group2 involved 50 patients with chronic HCV infection and group 3 involved 50 HCV uremic subjects undergoing hemodialysis.CD83,CD86 and CD40 as co-stimulatory markers and PD-L1 as a co-inhibitory marker were assessed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by realtime polymerase chain reaction.Interleukin-10(IL-10)and hyaluronic acid(HA)levels were also assessed.All findings were correlated with disease activity,viral load and fibrogenesis.RESULTS:There was a significant decrease in costimulatory markers;CD83,CD86 and CD40 in groups2 and 3 vs the control group.Co-stimulatory markers were significantly higher in group 3 vs group 2.There was a significant elevation in PD-L1 in both HCV groups vs the control group.PD-L1 was significantly lower in group 3 vs group 2.There was a significant elevation in IL-10 and HA levels in groups 2 and 3,where IL-10was higher in group 3 and HA was lower in group 3 vs group 2.HA level was significantly correlated with disease activity and fibrosis grade in group 2.IL-10 was significantly correlated with fibrosis grade in group 2.There were significant negative correlations between co-stimulatory markers and viral load in groups 2 and3,except CD83 in dialysis patients.There was a significant positive correlation between PD-L1 and viral load in both HCV groups.CONCLUSION:A significant decrease in DC co-stimulatory markers and a significant increase in a DC coinhibitory marker were observed in HCV subjects and to a lesser extent in dialysis patients.