the role of autophagy in interferon/ribavirin responders and non-responders with hepatitis c virus infection

Background: hepatitis c virus (hcv) is a significant cause of chronic inflammatory liver diseases. hepatitis c virus infection is a common disorder worldwide, which has become a significant public health concern. the survival of viruses in host cells is associated with their ability to engage in cellular mechanisms benefitted from. objectives: this study aimed at evaluating the expression rate of beclin 1, as a critical protein of autophagy, and its correlation with interferon-alpha (ifn-α) expression in both ifn-ribavirin responder and non-responder groups. methods: in this study, a total of 40 samples of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmcs) were evaluated. twenty samples were collected from the patients with chronic hcv as non-responders and 20 samples obtained from the patients considered as responders; all samples were collected in the pretreatment period. the expression level of ifn-α and beclin 1 mrna was assessed by taq-man real-time pcr. results: the mean of hcv load was 4.2 × 10^6 ± 8.8 × 10^6 and 1.1 × 10^7 ± 9.1 × 10^6 in the responder and non-responder groups, respectively. the expression rate of ifn-α in the responder group was significantly higher, than the non-responders (p < 0.02), whereas the expression rate of the beclin 1 gene was significantly lower in responders compared with non-responders (p < 0.02). conclusions: in non-responders, the level of beclin 1 expression and its correlation with ifn-α expression level, along with other genetic and physiological factors of the host, can be considered as influential factors involved in ifn-αexpression, as an antiviral agent.