We immunohistochemically analyzed liver biopsies of 116 therapy-naive HCV patients before treatment with PEG-IFN伪 and ribavirin in comparison to healthy liver tissue. Expression levels of TRAIL, TRAIL-R1 to TRAIL-R4, caspase-8 and cFLIP were correlated with sustained virologic response (SVR), genotype and staging of chronic hepatitis.
Caspase-8, cFLIP, TRAIL-R2 and TRAIL-R4 were strongly upregulated in HCV patients, whereas TRAIL-R3 was downregulated. SVR correlated with high expression of TRAIL and pro-apoptotic TRAIL-R2 on HCV infected hepatocytes.
Our results suggest a pathophysiological role of TRAIL in both, HCV infection and therapy. Further studies need to elaborate possible TRAIL-related targets for clinical applications.