The summaries are free for public
use. The Chronic Liver Disease
Foundation will continue to add and
archive summaries of articles deemed
relevant to CLDF by the Board of
Trustees and its Advisors.
Abstract Details
Variation of transaminases, HCV-RNA levels and Th1/Th2 cytokine production during the post-partum period in pregnant women with chronic hepatitis C
Ruiz-Extremera A, Muñoz-Gámez JA, Abril-Molina A, Salmerón-Ruiz MA, Muñoz-de-Rueda P, Pavón-Castillero EJ, Quiles-Pérez R, Carazo A, Gila A, Jimenez-Ruiz SM, Casado J, Martín AB, Sanjuán-Núñez L, Ocete-Hita E, Viota JL, León J, Salmerón J. PLoS One. 2013 Oct 10;8(10):e75613. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075613.
Author information
Paediatric Unit, San Cecilio University Hospital, Granada, Spain ; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas, Ciberehd, Granada, Spain ; Paediatric Unit, Granada University, Granada, Spain.
Abstract
This study analyses the evolution of liver disease in women with chronic hepatitis C during the third trimester of pregnancy and the post-partum period, as a natural model of immune modulation and reconstitution. Of the 122 mothers recruited to this study, 89 were HCV-RNA+ve/HIV-ve and 33 were HCV-RNA-ve/HIV-ve/HCVantibody+ve and all were tested during the third trimester of pregnancy, at delivery and post-delivery. The HCV-RNA+ve mothers were categorized as either Type-A (66%), with an increase in ALT levels in the post-partum period (>40 U/L; P<0.001) or as Type-B (34%), with no variation in ALT values. The Type-A mothers also presented a significant decrease in serum HCV-RNA levels in the post-delivery period (P<0.001) and this event was concomitant with an increase in Th1 cytokine levels (INFγ, P = 0.04; IL12, P = 0.01 and IL2, P = 0.01). On the other hand, the Type-B mothers and the HCV-RNA-ve women presented no variations in either of these parameters. However, they did present higher Th1 cytokine levels in the partum period (INFγ and IL2, P<0.05) than both the Type-A and the HCV-RNA-ve women. Cytokine levels at the moment of delivery do not constitute a risk factor associated with HCV vertical transmission. It is concluded that differences in the ALT and HCV-RNA values observed in HCV-RNA+ve women in the postpartum period might be due to different ratios of Th1 cytokine production. In the Type-B women, the high partum levels of Th1 cytokines and the absence of post-partum variation in ALT and HCV-RNA levels may be related to permanent Th1 cytokine stimulation.