Variation of Transaminases, HCV-RNA Levels and Th1/Th2 Cytokine Production during the Post-Partum Period in Pregnant Women with Chronic Hepatitis C Ruiz Extremera, Ángeles Muñoz Gámez, José Antonio Abril-Molina, Ana Salmerón Ruiz, María Angustias Muñoz de Rueda, Paloma Pavón Castillero, Esther José Quiles-Pérez, Rosa Carazo, Ángel Gila Medina, Ana Jiménez-Ruiz, Sergio Casado, Jorge Martín, Ana Belén Sanjuán-Núñez, Laura Ocete Hita, Esther López-Viota Gallardo, Julián León, Josefa Salmerón Escobar, Francisco Javier Blood Children Cytokines Evolutionary immunology Liver disease and pregnancy Mothers Viral evolution Viral load This study analyses the evolution of liver disease in women with chronic hepatitis C during the third trimester of pregnancy and the post-partum period, as a natural model of immune modulation and reconstitution. Of the 122 mothers recruited to this study, 89 were HCV-RNA+ve/HIV-ve and 33 were HCV-RNA-ve/HIV-ve/HCVantibody+ve and all were tested during the third trimester of pregnancy, at delivery and post-delivery. The HCV-RNA+ve mothers were categorized as either Type-A (66%), with an increase in ALT levels in the post-partum period (>40 U/L; P<0.001) or as Type-B (34%), with no variation in ALT values. The Type-A mothers also presented a significant decrease in serum HCV-RNA levels in the post-delivery period (P<0.001) and this event was concomitant with an increase in Th1 cytokine levels (INFγ, P = 0.04; IL12, P = 0.01 and IL2, P = 0.01). On the other hand, the Type-B mothers and the HCV-RNA-ve women presented no variations in either of these parameters. However, they did present higher Th1 cytokine levels in the partum period (INFγ and IL2, P<0.05) than both the Type-A and the HCV-RNA-ve women. Cytokine levels at the moment of delivery do not constitute a risk factor associated with HCV vertical transmission. It is concluded that differences in the ALT and HCV-RNA values observed in HCV-RNA+ve women in the postpartum period might be due to different ratios of Th1 cytokine production. In the Type-B women, the high partum levels of Th1 cytokines and the absence of post-partum variation in ALT and HCV-RNA levels may be related to permanent Th1 cytokine stimulation. 2014-03-21T14:11:03Z 2014-03-21T14:11:03Z 2013 journal article Ruiz-Extremera, A.; et al. Variation of Transaminases, HCV-RNA Levels and Th1/Th2 Cytokine Production during the Post-Partum Period in Pregnant Women with Chronic Hepatitis C. Plos One, 8(10): e75613 (2013). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/31038] 1932-6203 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075613 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/31038 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ open access Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License Public Library of Science (PLOS)