The results of the latest research of the scientists from Medizinische Hochschule in Hannover have been published in Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the journal of American Gastroenterological Association. They inform about a new predictor of interferon responsiveness in chronic HCV infection. It is oxLDL – oxidized fraction of low-density lipoprotein, commonly called “a bad cholesterol”.
The research involved 379 HCV patients treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The oxLDL level in serum of the patients with SVR (sustained virological response) turned out to be significantly higher.
So far, probability of obtaining SVR was possible to assess by a variety of factors characteristic for a patient, such as polymorphism of interleukin 28B genotype (IL28B), and less specific factors such as age, liver fibrosis and steatosis, insulin resistance and GGTP serum level. OxLDL is a new independent SVR predictor. Its level can be indirectly tested by measuring LDL in serum, as these values strongly correlate with each other.
Researchers showed that oxLDL noncompetitively inhibits binding of the virus to its cellular receptor and blocks HCV cell entry. Thus it prevents cell-to-cell spread, which is thought to be a main way of infecting new hepatocytes.
OxLDL does not directly improve interferon response but it increases treatment effectiveness by inhibiting new cell infection during the therapy.
Nowadays, new directly acting oral drugs, such as viral protease inhibitors, open doors to promising interferon-free treatment. Those drugs, comparing to interferon, provide higher SVR achievement and less side effects during the therapy. Nevertheless, due to their high costs, interferon-based therapy still plays a key role in chronic HCV treatment. Therefore, there is a high need for markers assessing effectiveness of this treatment, such as oxLDL.
OxLDL research results help to better understand pathophysiology of HCV virus. They seem to be helpful in studies about new drugs which directly block viral entry to cells not only in HCV cases, but also in other chronic viral infections.
Written by: Maja Mirska
Source:
1. http://www.gastro.org/press_releases/2015/5/13/novel-biomarkers-may-provide-guide-to-personalized-hepatitis-c-therapy
2. P. Solbach et al. Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein Is a Novel Predictor of Interferon Responsiveness in Chronic Hepatitis C Infection, Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2015: 1(3): 285-294.e1
3. M. von Schaeven, A. Ploss, EDITORIAL Novel Biomarkers Associated With the Outcome of Interferon-Based Hepatitis C Virus Therapy, Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2015:1(3):257-258.
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