CYTOKINE PATTERN IN HEPATITIS – B – VIRUS POSITIVE INDIVIDUALS IN FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTRE, ASABA, DELTA STATE NIGERIA.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a viral infection that affects the liver causing acute as well as chronic disease. Hepatitis B virus infection has the tendency to induce immune activation and eventual release of cytokines causing an up – regulation of several genes in the human body. The study was aimed at evaluating HBV infection outcome using the pattern of expression of some cytokine genes (IFN-Ƴ, TNF- α, IL-10, and IL-1β transcripts) and serum cytokine levels of HBV-positive individuals attending Federal Medical Centre Asaba. The objectives were to assess IFN-Ƴ, TNF- α, IL-10, and IL-1β transcripts, and the serum cytokine levels in HBV-positive groups and compare the results with that of the control group. This was a cross-sectional study of 115 adults aged 22 – 64 years, 50 confirmed HBV-negative individuals as negative controls and 65 HBV-positive individuals. The One-step multi-test strip was used to screen all the individuals for HBV infection and ELISA and PCR were used for confirmation. Cytokine serum level was assessed using ELISA technique. Cytokine gene expression patterns was determined using Reverse Transcriptase PCR. Cytokine gene of IFN-Ƴ, TNF- α, IL-10, and IL-1β was expressed in HBV positive group but was absent in the control group. The median serum levels of IFN-Ƴ (P=0.001), TNF- α (P=0.001), IL-10 (P=0.001), and IL-1β (P=0.001) in the case groups were significantly higher when compared with the control group. Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney test were used for statistical analysis. Cytokines both at gene and serum levels were overexpressed in HBV infection compared to that of HBV negative control group. Therefore, these indices could be used as markers in evaluating HBV outcome.
