In contrast to IFN-α therapy which induced hepatitis flares in 8 out of 10 VRs, followed by peak IL-12 level (9), the elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level was generated in 2 out of 6 VRs during the treatment, and only one patient (V#118) showed concomitant elevation of ALT level with the increased IL-12/p40 ratio (Fig. 4), reflecting that there was no significant temporal correlation between the increase of plasma IL-12 and an ALT flare in this study. The gene discussed is GPT; the disease is hepatitis A virus infection.