Background: Co-infection with hepatitis C (HCV) is very common in human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1)\r\ninfected patients. Although HIV co-infection clearly accelerates progression of HCV-related fibrosis and liver disease,\r\ncontroversy remains as to the impact of HCV on HIV disease progression in co-infected patients. HIV can cause\r\nimmune dysfunction, in which the regulatory function of T helper (Th) cells is very essential. Moreover, cytokines\r\nderived from Th cells play a prominent role in viral infection. Investigating the functional changes of Th1 and Th2\r\ncells in cytokine level can improve the understanding of the effect of co-infected HCV on HIV infection.\r\nMethods: In this study, we measured the baseline Th1/Th2 cytokine concentration in sera by using flow cytometry\r\nin HIV/HCV co-infection, HIV mono-infection, HCV mono-infection, and healthy control group, as well as the\r\ndynamic changes of these cytokine levels after receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).\r\nResults: The ratio of Th1 and Th2 cytokine concentration in HIV/HCV co-infection was higher than HCV monoinfection\r\nand healthy control group, while lower than HIV mono-infection group. After HAART was initiated, the\r\nTh1/Th2 ratio of HIV/HCV co-infection group decreased to the same level of healthy control, while HIV monoinfection\r\ngroup was still higher than the control group.\r\nConclusions: There was no significant evidence showing co-infected with HCV had negative effect on HIV related\r\ndiseases. However, co-infected with HCV can decrease Th1/Th2 ratio by affecting Th1 cytokine level, especially the\r\nsecretion of IFN-g. With the initiation of HAART, Th1 and Th2 cytokine levels were progressively reduced. HIV was\r\nthe main stimulating factor of T cells in HIV/HCV co-infection group.
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