Impaired expression of type i and type II interferon receptors in HCV-associated chronic liver disease and liver cirrhosis

Purpose: Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)-infected patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) respond poorly to interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) and ribavirin (RBV) combination therapy, but the reason for this is unclear. We previously reported that HCV-infection induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy response that selectively down regulates the type I IFN-alpha receptor-1 (IFNAR1) and RBV transporters (CNT1 and ENT1), leading to IFN-alpha/RBV resistance. The goal of this study is to verify whether an increase in ER stress and autophagy response is also associated with the reduced expression of IFNAR1 and RBV transporters in chronic HCV-infected patients