Levels of Serum IFN-α, IL-8, TNF-α and NO in the CMV and HCV Hepatitis in Infants

Objective To study variations of inflammatory mediators in the serum of children aged 1～6 months with infantile hepatitis. Methods Using ELISA and carbonate reductase assays, we measured the levels of serum IFN α, IL 8, TNF α and NO in 56 children suffering from CMV antibody positive infantile hepatitis, 67 children suffering from HCV antibody positive infantile hepatitis and 58 normal children. Results In the normal control group, the levels of INF α, IL 8 and TNF α were226.74±73.82 ng/L, 13.24±5.36 ng/L, 217.14±76.30 ng/L, respectively, and NO concentrations were 25.98±8.70 μmol/L. In the CMV antibody postive group, IFN α Levels were 582.26 ± 131.72 ng/L , IL 8 levels were 75.28 ± 33.57 ng/L, TNF α levels were 429.46 ± 156.32 ng/L, and NO concentrations were 59.87 ± 16.42 μmol/L. These values were all significantly higher than those of the normal control group (P 0.01 ). In the HCV antibody positive group, the concentrations of IFN α, IL 8, TNF α and NO were 558.32 ± 114.64 ng/L , 71.34 ± 27.64 ng/L, 374.35 ± 138.4 ng/L and 62.24 ± 21.38 μmol/L, respectively. These levels were also significantly increased compared to the controls (P 0.01 ). There were no significant differences between the CMV antibody positive and the HCV antibody positive groups. TNF α and NO were positively correlated in both groups (r 1 = 0.62 , r 2 = 0.57 , P 0.01 ). Conclusions Serum levels of IFN-α, IL 8, TNF α, and NO increase in the critical period of the infantile hepatitis syndrome with CMV and HCV antibody positive. [