Divergent Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Response Induced by GB Virus C/ Hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) and Torque Teno Virus (TTV) Co-Infections in Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infected Thalassemia Patients

Despite common incidence of GB virus C/Hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) and Torque Teno Virus (TTV) co-infections in subjects with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, pathogenic role of these co-infections in HCV infected subjects has not been clear since studies have mostly been based on liver enzyme profile yielding variable results. Pro-inflammatory cytokines that participate in host immune response against viruses are generated as a consequence of triggering of related genes by Nuclear Factor Kappa B (NF-kB) that is a member of transcription family. Study of three pro-inflammatory cytokines e.g. interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8) in a group of multi-transfused thalassemic subjects in relation to positivity for HCV, HGV and TTV infections showed elevated levels of these cytokines in serum as well as in supernatant of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMCs) cultures in HCV-GBV-C/HGV co-infected subgroup compared to HCV mono-infected subgroup (p