OBJECTIVETo assess the relationship between the level of serum TNF-alpha of chronic hepatitis C with severity of disease and curative effect of anti-virus therapy with interferon alpha.

METHODSThirty healthy controls and 102 patients with chronic hepatitis C were recruited into this study. The level of serum TNF-alpha was determined by ELISA in both groups. Then the 102 patients with chronic hepatitis C were evaluated after being classified into mild (44 cases), moderate (34 cases), and severe types (24 cases) based on the results of liver function tests. Liver functions, viral load and genotype of HCV RNA were measured.

RESULTSBefore anti-virus treatment, the level of fasting serum TNF-alpha in the patients with chronic hepatitis C (1) was higher than that of the normal controls; (2) in the cases with mild type was lower than that in the moderate and severe groups; (3) serum TNF-alpha was not associated with the HCV load; (4) serum TNF-alpha was not significantly different between HCV subtypes 1b and 2a; (5) serum TNF-alpha was not significantly different between the patients responsive and non-responsive to the anti-virus treatment; (6) serum TNF-alpha was positively correlated with the level of serum direct bilirubin, negatively correlated with cholinesterase (CHE).

CONCLUSIONSThe level of fasting serum TNF-alpha in the patients with chronic hepatitis was higher than that in the normal controls, and was positively correlated with the severity of the disease but not correlated with the therapeutic effect of interferon-alpha.