Analysis of peripheral blood dendritic cells as a non-invasive tool in the follow-up of patients with chronic hepatitis C

Figure 2 Effects of dual therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin on peripheral blood dendritic cells. The treatment induced a rapid, progressive and persistent increase of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in sustained virological response (SVR) but not in non-SVR patients. The frequency of pDCs was higher in SVR than non-SVR patients at all the time points. pegIFN and RBV treatment also induced a transient increase of peripheral blood DC production of interleukin (IL)12, that was observed after 1 mo of treatment but decreased thereafter, and that was more pronounced in SVR than non-SVR patients. IL10 production showed a similar trend and tended to be higher in non-SVR patients. ^aP < 0.05 and ^bP < 0.01, respectively, any time vs t0 within each group, as assessed by Wilcoxon signed rank test; ^cP < 0.05, SVR vs non-SVR, as assessed by Mann-Whitney test. t0: Before treatment; t1: After 1 mo of treatment; t2: At the end of treatment; t3: 6 mo after treatment completion.