Title

Implications of prognostic variables in the assessment of autoimmunity in hepatitis C patients receiving interferon therapy

Authors

Mahwish Arooj1, Arif Malik2, Abdul Basit2, Mahmood Husain Qazi3, Muhammad Asif4, Mohammad Sarwar Jamal5, Maged Mostafa Mahmoud5,6, Peter Natesan Pushparaj7, Mahmood Rasool7,*

Affiliation

1University College of Medicine and Dentistry (UCMD), the University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 2Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB), the University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 3Center for Research in Molecular Medicine (CRiMM), the University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 4Department of Biotechnology, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS), Quetta, Pakistan; 5King Fahd Medical Research Center (KFMRC), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Molecular Genetics and Enzymology, Division of Human Genetics and Genome Research, National Research Centre, El-
Buhouth St., P.O. 12622, Dokki, Giza, Egypt (Affiliation ID 60014618); 7Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research (CEGMR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Email

Dr. Mahmood Rasool - E-mail: mahmoodrasool@yahoo.com; *Corresponding author

Article Type

Hypothesis

Date

Received April 21, 2016; Accepted May 26, 2016; Published June 15, 2016

Systematic administration of interferon-alpha (INF-alpha) is considered as the backbone of HCV therapy since 1991. Interferon (IFN) therapy can cause vasculitis, glomerulonephritis, cryoglobulinemia and certain other autoimmune diseases such as sialoadentitis, lichen planus and thyroiditis. Related to the factors of interferons, extensively studied gland is thyroid gland. A strong association was observed between thyroid disease and HCV patient when they were exposed to IFN therapy. Vitamin D, malondialdehyde (MDA), thyroid hormones and auto antibodies were biochemically assessed from the venous blood of seventy five HCV patients and fifty healthy controls. The results of all parameters were analyzed by independent sample t-test. The results of the study demonstrated a clear picture that the levels of vitamin D decreased as compared to control but increases in case of MDA. The levels of antibody titer represent that thyroglobulin-antibody (TGAb) thyroid peroxidase-antibody (TPOAb) as well as thyroid stimulating hormone receptor-antibody (TSHRAb) were raised in the patients suffering from HCV with thyroid dysfunction as compared to control. Similarly, the levels of thyroid hormones were also elevated in the HCV patients. Antibodies generated against thyroidal enzymes leads to impaired function of these
enzymes thus causing decreased synthesis of thyroid hormones. As exogenous INF triggers the release of cytokines that mediate the recruitment of immune cells with increased production of inflammatory markers lead to production of lytic granules which have direct toxic action on thyroid cells and ultimately increased lipid peroxidation of thyrocytes. The results of the present study clearly demonstrated that the decreased levels of vitamin D in HCV patients receiving IFN therapy were responsible to induce autoimmunity against thyroid gland and adjutant therapy may be helpful to alleviate the possible thyroid disorders.

Interferon alpha; Hepatitis C virus; Vitamin-D; Interleukin-6; Tumor necrosis factor alpha

Citation

Arooj et al. Bioinformation 12(3): 131-134 (2016)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.