Serum complements C3 and C4 in chronic HCV infection and their correlation with response to pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment

Background and study aimsTo search for an immunological parameter that may correlate with the response to interferon (IFN) treatment is very crucial. The objective of this study was to correlate the levels of C3 and C4 complement components with the response to IFN treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.Patients and methodsThis study was conducted on 100 patients and control subjects classified into three groups. Group (I) consisted of 50 patients with chronic hepatitis C who were receiving IFN treatment and showed various responses; group (II) included 25 patients with chronic hepatitis C naive to IFN treatment; and group (III) included 25 healthy subjects matched for age and sex who served as controls. Measurement of the level of complement C3 and C4 was done by a quantitative turbidimetric test. Measurement of complement levels in group (I) was done at the end of treatment at the 48th week.ResultsSerum levels of C3 and C4 were found to be significantly reduced in all patients with chronic HCV infection in both groups (I and II) compared to the healthy control group (III) (p < 0.05). Moreover, chronic HCV patients treated with IFN and ribavirin had significantly lower levels of C3 and C4 compared with patients naive to IFN and ribavirin treatment. At the end of treatment, both C3 and C4 had significantly increased in responders to IFN when compared to non-responders (p = 0.025 and 0.05, respectively). There was a significant negative correlation between C3 and C4 levels and the concentration of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) measured simultaneously.ConclusionHigher C3 and C4 serum concentrations were found to be positively correlated to the end-of-treatment response in patients with chronic HCV infection treated with IFN and ribavirin.