Intrahepatic and peripheral T-cell responses in genotype 1b hepatitis C virus-infected patients with persistently normal and elevated aminotransferase levels

Table 1 Demographic and biochemical features of patients (mean±SD)

	Normal ALT	Elevated ALT	P
n	16	17
Age	51.4±10	47±10.7	>0.05
Female/male	10/6	8/9	>0.05
Duration of infection (mo)	33±32 (12-108)	21±22 (6-72)	>0.05
ALT (IU/L)	36±6	115±60	<0.05
AST (IU/L)	32±7.8	70±21	<0.05
ALP (IU/L)	187.9±95	219.8±104.5	>0.05
GGT (IU/L)	50.2±92.7	102.5±81.6	>0.05
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.7±0.5	0.6±0.2	>0.05
Albumin (g/dL)	4.1±0.2	4±0.3	>0.05
Globulin (g/dL)	1.2±0.2	1.4±0.4	>0.05
Histology
Minimal abnormalities	3	0
Stage (1/2/3/4)	9/1/3/0	010/5/0/2
HAI	4.4±2.8	6.1±3.5	>0.05
HCV-RNA (copies/mL)	456 532±277 761	461 710±324 860	>0.05

ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; GGT: gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, HAI: histological activity index.

Table 2 Cytokine levels stimulated by IL-2 and phytohemagglutinin in LILMCs (mean±SD)

pg/mL	Normal ALT	Elevated ALT	P
IFN-γ
IL-2	1.8±2.3	2.2±3.4	>0.05
PHA	2.1±2.7	2.8±3.7	>0.05
IL-12
IL-2	0.6±0.5	0.24±0.5	0.027
PHA	0.9±0.6	0.7±0.7	>0.05
IL-10
IL-2	12.2±23.8	4.1±5.3	0.023
PHA	15.9±30.6	9.2±7.1	>0.05
TNF-
IL-2	2.5±1.06	2.5±2.9	>0.05
PHA	3.3±1.4	3.8±3.2	>0.05

ALT: alanine aminotransferase; PHA: phytohemagglutinin; LILMCs: liver infiltrating lymphomononuclear cells.