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. 2018 Jun 24;10(7):341.
doi: 10.3390/v10070341.

Role of T-Helper 9 Cells in Chronic Hepatitis C-Infected Patients

Mohamed E Ali  1 , Omnia El-Badawy  2 , Noha A Afifi  3 , Abeer Sharaf Eldin  4 , Elham Ahmed Hassan  5 , Hamada M Halby  6 , Mohamed Ahmed El-Mokhtar  7
Affiliations

Role of T-Helper 9 Cells in Chronic Hepatitis C-Infected Patients

Mohamed E Ali et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus is a hepatotropic virus that is transmitted parenterally. Viral infections are usually associated with modulations of the immune cells, leading to enhanced viral survival and spreading, and accordingly, life-threatening complications. Recently, it has been proposed that a new subset of T-helper, named T-helper 9, is involved in the pathogenesis of different immunopathological conditions, such as allergies, tumors, and viral infections. Some studies reported a protective role, and others described a pathogenic potential for the T-helper 9 cells. Here, we present evidence that T-helper 9 cells are dynamically increased with increasing the pathogenic strategy for hepatitis C virus (HCV). Furthermore, viral clearance is associated with a decrease in T-helper 9. The increase in T-helper 9 was paralleled with an increase in its receptor expression. Taken together, our data suggest that T-helper 9 cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of HCV, and is directly associated with HCV-related complications.

Keywords: HCV-related complications; T-helper 9 cells; hepatitis C virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency of Th9 cells in different patient groups. (A) Gating strategy and representative histograms used to determine the Th9 subset in different patient groups. (B) Summary of Th9 percentages in different study groups. CHC: chronic hepatitis C patients, CHC-LC: chronic hepatitis C associated liver cirrhosis, CHC-HCC: chronic hepatitis C associated hepatocellular carcinoma, HC: healthy controls.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlations of Th9 percentage and laboratory parameters in CHC (A); CHC-LC (B); and CHC-HCC patients (C).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlations of Th9 percentage and patient characteristics. (A) Th9 percentage in correlation to severity of liver disease. (B) Lower levels of Th9 cells were observed in patients who achieved sustained virological response (SVR). (C) Receiver operating characteristic curve of Th9 for the prognosis prediction in chronic hepatitis C infected patients.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Variation in IL9R expression in different study populations. (A) IL9R expression is elevated in HCV-infected patients. (B) IL9R expression in relation to Child–Pugh score as a measure of the severity of liver damage. (C) IL9R expression in patients who received directly acting antiviral agents (DAAs).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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