Effects of HCV-RNA positivity on serum IL-1 beta levels in chronic hemodialysis patients

• Published in: Gazi tıp dergisi Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 155 - 158
• Main Authors: YÜCEL, Ayşegül, HABERAL, Mehmet, KÖSEOĞLU, Hamide, Kart, ÖZDEMİR, Nurhan, YÜCEL, Ahmet Eftal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Gazi Üniversitesi 2001
• Subjects: Cytokines; Enzim bağlı immünosorbent assay; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Hemodialysis; Hemodiyaliz; Hepacivirus; Hepatit C antikorları; Hepatitis C Antibodies; Immunologic and biological factors; İmmünolojik ve biyolojik faktörler; Interleukin-1; İnterlökin-1; Sitokinler; Tumor Necrosis Factor; Tümör nekroz faktör; Viruses; Virüsler
• ISSN: 1300-056X; 2147-2092

Purpose: Hepatitis C virüs (HCV) positivity and inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin(IL)-} beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and IL-6 secreted by activated macrophages are known to be important morbidity factors in chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. in this preliminary stııdy, we aimed to compare serum IL-1 beta levels of 20 HCV-RNA-positive and 23 HCV-RNA-negative chronic HD patients. Methods: HCV-RNA-positivity and serum IL-1 beta levels were studied using nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and ELISA methods, respectively. Results: We could detect no statistically signifıcant difference between serum IL-1 beta levels in HCV-RNA-positive and HCV-RNA-negative groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the fırst study to examine the relationship between serum IL-1 beta level and HCV infection in HD patients. We had expected the level of IL-1 beta to be higher in HCV-RNA-positive group, and believe that the blood-dialyzer interaction strongly activated mononuclear cells, thus generating elevated levels of IL-1 beta in both groups. This could explain why HCV infection apparently did not affect serum IL-1 beta levels.