Correlation
Correlation between CD4+, CD8+ T Cells Count and Liver Function Tests in Chronic Hepatitis C Infection.
Hoda El Tayeb1, Ahmed Shawky1, Noha A. El Nakeeb1, and Hala B.Othman2, Enas H. Allam3.
Departments of 1Internal Medicine, 2Clinical Pathology and 3 Tropical Medicine , Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University
Abstract: T cells are believed to be involved in the pathogenesis of important liver diseases including both autoimmune liver diseases and viral hepatitis. The aim of this study was to find if there is a correlation between liver function tests and levels of CD4 and CD8 in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to determine the role of T cells in the pathogenesis of HCV. Patients and methods: This study was conducted on 60 patients with chronic HCV infection proved by PCR. The patients were divided into 3 groups; Group 1: included 20 patients with normal liver function tests and normal abdominal ultrasound. Group 2: included 20 patients with abnormal liver function tests and normal abdominal ultrasound. Group 3: included 20 patients with abnormal laboratory results and abnormal abdominal ultrasound. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood lymphocytes by flow cytometry for CD4 & CD8 was done for all groups. Results: This study showed a highly significant positive correlation between CD4 T-cell counts and liver enzymes, also there was a highly significant positive correlation between CD8 T-cell count and bilirubin level and a negative correlation between CD4 T-cell count and CD8 T-cell count. Conclusion: CD4 and CD8 T-cell counts may represent a non invasive method to determine the immune response against chronic HCV infection.
[Hoda El Tayeb, Ahmed Shawky, Noha A. El Nakeeb, and Hala B.Othman, Enas H. Allam. Correlation between CD4+, CD8+ T Cells Count and Liver Function Tests in Chronic Hepatitis C Infection. Life Sci. J2013;10(1):2984-2989]. (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 5
Key words: CD4 and CD8 T-cell, HCV.