Abstract
BACKGROUND: The mechanisms leading to hepatic injury in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are only incompletely understood. Recent data propose a correlation of the intrahepatic expression of the CC chemokine RANTES and the degree of periportal and portal inflammatory liver damage.Aim: Here, we have studied the intrahepatic mRNA levels of CC chemokines RANTES together with that of other members of this chemokine family (MIP-1β, MCP-1, and MCP-2) in chronic hepatitis C as compared with healthy controls.Methods: Liver samples from 22 HCV-infected patients, nine individuals with primary biliary cirrhosis and from 12 normal controls were included into this study. Intrahepatic mRNA levels of CC chemokines RANTES, MIP-1β, MCP-1, and MCP-2 were analyzed by a semi-quantitative reverse transcription/real-time polymerase chain reaction assay.Results: In chronic HCV infection, intrahepatic RANTES mRNA levels were significantly higher than in non-infected controls (7.2-fold,