Background:
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major health problem worldwide particularly in Egypt. Chemokine IP-10 may be a good prognostic marker for the outcome of HCV treatment
Aim:
Assessment the  potential predictive value of  Serum Inducible Protein -10 chemokine (IP-10) in the clearance of HCV RNA in Egyptian patients with and without treatment
Materials and Methods: Ninety Egyptian  individuals were involved in the current study where, 20 (23%) patients were chronic HCV chronic (positive HCV antibodies and positive HCV RNA without treatment, 20 (22%) were healthy individuals (negative for both HCV antibodies and HCV RNA,  20 cases (22%)  were natural clearance (positive HCV antibodies and negative for HCV RNA without treatment), 20 (22%) were achieved  SVR after treatment (responder group, HCV positive and negative for HCV RNA after treatment) and 10 (11%) were non responder (positive HCV antibodies and still positive HCV RNA after treatment. HCV RNA was quantitated by real time PCR for and serum IP10 level was measured by commercial ELISA kit. All biochemical and hematological examinations included liver function, CBC and alphefeto protein were assessed.
Results: The mean serum levels of IP-10 were significantly higher (p < 0.001) in CHC patients (345.4±100) pg/ml than healthy control group (101.5±31.4) and natural clearance group (103.2±40.7). Also serum levels of IP-10 was significantly elevated in non responder group (257.4±52.5) compared with each of SVR group (103.5± 43.5) (p < 0.001) and healthy group (101.5±31.4), (p < 0.001). Prediction of a clinical response based on a combination of these chemokines revealed high sensitivity (82%), specificity (85%), negative predictive value (95%), and area under the curve (1.00). Moreover, there is no correlation ((R= 0.05), P value p < 0.795) between serum level of IP-10 and HCV viral load.
Conclusion: IP10 is a useful non-invasive biomarker for viral clearance and might be used to apply patients according to the predictable treatment outcome. Accordingly, patients who are unlikely to respond to treatment would avoid unnecessary exposure to medication that is related with high morbidity.
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