In the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of HCV infected patients the expression of STAT1 and IRF-1 is downregulated while that of caspase-3 upregulated

Several peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PbmC) defects have been linked with hepatitis C virus (hCV) infection, including alterations in cytokine secretion and increased cell death. this study was performed to investigate the expression levels of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (StAt1), interferon regulatory factor 1 (irF-1), and caspase 3 in PbmCs of patients infected with hCV. StAt1, irF-1, and caspase 3 expression levels were compared in PbmCs from 19 untreated (nave) hCV+ patients, 8 treated (sustained responder [Sr]) hCV patients, and 20 hCV-healthy controls. moreover, PbmCs from nave hCV+ patients and Sr-hCV patients were also evaluated for hCV rNA expression. the expression levels of StAt-1 and irF-1 were significantly downregulated in PbmCs from nave hCV+ patients (P <0.04) and Sr-hCV patients (P <0.05) compared to hCV-controls. in comparison with hCV-controls, nave hCV+ and Sr-hCV patients showed a significant upregulation in the expression of caspase-3 in their PbmCs (P <0.0005 and P <0.03, respectively). No significant differences were observed in the expression of StAt-1, irF-1, and caspase-3 between PbmCs from nave hCV+ and Sr-hCV patients. hCV rNA was detected in PbmCs from 18 (94.7%) nave hCV+ patients as well as 6 (75%) Sr-hCV patients. downregulation of StAt1 and irF-1 expression levels and upregulation of caspase-3 expression level in PbmCs from hCV-infected patients may contribute to alterations in cytokine secretion and enhanced PbmCs cell death reported in previous studies.