[The cytokine profile in patients with acute viral hepatitis B and C].

The plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-1 beta, and IL-6, and IL-10 were studied in 46 patients with acute viral hepatitis B and in 18 patients with acute viral hepatitis C at the peak of the disease during early and late convalescence. There was a significant increase in the levels of IL-1 beta and IL-6 and a reduction in the concentrations of IL-10, which was most evident at the peak of the disease in patients with acute viral hepatitis C as compared with those with hepatitis B.