Table 2.
Cytokine range in serum chronic hepatitis C patients compared to HCV noninfected controls.
| Chronic hepatitis C | Control group | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemokines | |||
| CCL-3 | 2.8 (0.9–16.6) | 1.3 (0.6–1.6) | NS |
| CCL-4 | 50.9 (34.5–89.2) | 24.9 (18.5–28.8) | 0.001 |
| CCL-5 | 3186 (2032–4881) | 2625 (2025–3370) | NS |
| CCL-11 | 722.7 (597.7–944.5) | 788.9 (261.1–1235.0) | NS |
| CXCL-10 | 29,385 (18,159–44,260) | 9120 (4075–10,196) | 0.0001 |
| Pro-inflammatory | |||
| IFN-γ | 98.4 (53.4–324.8) | 33.3 (14.5–51.8) | 0.002 |
| IL-1β | 0.3 (0.1–0.5) | 0.2 (0.03–0.2) | NS |
| Anti-inflammatory | |||
| IL-10 | 4.0 (2.7–5.6) | 4.6 (2.4–41.2) | NS |
| IL-1ra | 246.3 (98.0–1102.0) | 307.5 (46.0–603.1) | NS |
| TGF-β | 2781 (1856–3302) | 3821 (3239–4098) | 0.004 |
| Growth factors | |||
| FGFb | 423.9 (167.7–976.3) | 314.9 (115.4–435.9) | NS |
| PDGF-B | 7932 (2183–78,666) | 51,254 (28,252–71,775) | NS |
| VEGF | 65.4 (33.3–149.3) | 73.5 (31.4–4269.0) | NS |
| Others | |||
| PAI-1 | 15,325 (8890–21,330) | 5038 (3276–13,210) | 0.008 |
| suPAR | 2478 (1772–3320) | 1575 (1283–1878) | 0.023 |
Data are presented as median (interquartile range). NS: nonsignificant. HCV-noninfected individuals who presented detectable levels of CCL-2, CXCL-8, and IL-15 were not enough for analysis. Statistical significance was assessed by Mann–Whitney or unpaired t-test (P < 0.05). The bold numbers indicate P values < 0.05.