Targeting Pro-inflammatory Cytokines and Chemokine as Potential Novel Strategy in Adjuvant Development for Anti- HCV Therapy

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the main cause of chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. The risk for the development of HCC increases with the severity of liver inflammation and fibrosis. Inflammatory cytokines are critical components of the immune system and influence cellular signaling. In this study, we demonstrated that TNF-α, IL-2 & IL-8 levels were significantly elevated in PBMC– HCV in-vitro model. We tested the hypothesis whether Epicatechin (EC) and/or 6-gingerol (GING) could inhibit such elevation in those cytokines or not. We found that both compound could significantly inhibit the inflammatory cytokines and the use of combined treatment is more effective than single treatment (EC or GING), assuming a possible synergistic effect. In conclusion, the use of anti-inflammatory compounds such as EC and GING as combined treatment may offer a pharmacological approach of targeting TNF-α, Il-2 and IL-8 production, which may provide a potential novel strategy for the development of anti-HCV therapy.