Differential expression of viral PAMP receptors mRNA in peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C infection

Background Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP) receptors play a key role in the early host response to viruses. In this work, we determined mRNA levels of two members of the Toll-like Receptors family, (TLR3 and TLR7) and the helicase RIG-I, all of three recognizing viral RNA products, in peripheral blood of healthy donors and hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients, to observe if their transcripts are altered in this disease.