Hepatitis C Virus Associations with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Insights on Inflammation/Angiogenesis and CD Markers.

We aimed to investigate any association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) in the view of cytokines that control inflammation/angiogenesis and their correlation with certain CD markers. NHL patients with or without HCV infection were studied. CD5, CD30, CD3, CD20 and CD45 were immunohistochemically evaluated. Plasma levels of vascular endothelial and platelet derived growth factors (VEGF, and PDGF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), transforming growth factor (TGF-β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, IL-4, IL-12 and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). HCV+ve NHL patients showed a significant reduction in VEGF, PDGF, IFN-γ, CD5 and CD45 and a significant increase in IL-12 and IL-8. In conclusion, there was a significant change in cytokine secretion and expression of CD markers in HCV+ve NHL patients. Based on our results, HCV infection in NHL patients requires more in-depth investigations to explore any role in lymphoma progression.