Comparison between interleukine-17 levels by NK-T cells in patients with chronic hepatitis C and healthy individuals

Background and Aims: Natural killer T (NKT) cells have been suggested to play critical roles in a wide range of immune responses especially against hepatotropic pathogens such as hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the present study, we investigated the status of NKT cells by producing interleukin-17 cytokine in peripheral blood. Materials and Methods: As case-control study, 15 patients with chronic HCV infection and healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. We determined the serum and peripheral blood IL-17 levels after activating by based on Galactosylceramid and IL-2 then the IL-17 level was measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbentassey (ELISA) methods. Results: Plasma level of IL-17 in patients with chronic infection did not differ compared to the control group (5.5±2.4 vs. 6.2±1.2 pg/ml; p=0.5). The level of supernatant IL-17 was significantly higher in both Galactosylceramid-IL-2-stimulated PBMCs than control group and the ratio IL-17 after 72 h was higher than the other times. The plasma level of IL-17 in HCV 3a-infected patients was higher than 1a-type patients but the difference was not significant (6±2.5 vs. 4.8±2.5 p=0.45). Conclusion: As the recent data, the roles of NKT cells in human liver injury and fibrosis remain unknown. However, the precise role of NKT cells in HCV patients as this play a role in innate immune responses in the liver in higher samples was performed.