lnterferon-α treatment induces delayed CD4 proliferative responses to the hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 3 regardless of the outcome of therapy

Abstract

The proliferative responses to a hepatitis C virus (HCV) recombinant nonstructural protein 3 (rNS3) were analyzed in 9 patients with chronic HCV infection before, during, and after 24 weeks of treatment with interferon-α (IFN-α) alone or in combination with ribavirin. Regardless of the therapy and the subsequent outcome, all patients showed an increased rNS3-specific proliferative response in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro within 48 weeks from the start of therapy (P