Original ResearchClinical—LiverRestored Function of HBV-Specific T Cells After Long-term Effective Therapy With Nucleos(t)ide Analogues
Section snippets
Patient Populations
The categories of patients (most infected by genotype D HBV) (Table 1, Table 2 and Supplementary Table 1, Supplementary Table 2, Supplementary Table 3, Supplementary Table 4, Supplementary Table 5) enrolled at the Unit of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology in Parma, at the Viral Hepatitis Division in Naples, and at the 1st Division of Gastroenterology in Milan were as follows: NUC-treated HBeAg-negative patients with CHB who had persistent suppression of HBV replication, either HBsAg positive
In Vitro HBV-Specific CD4+ or CD8+ T-Cell Responses in Patients With Different Levels of HBV Control
Three different antiviral cytokines, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2, were simultaneously tested by intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) following 10 days of PBMC stimulation with overlapping peptides covering the overall X, core, polymerase, and envelope sequences of genotype D to define recovery level and kinetics of different antiviral T-cell functions.
Positive IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α responses were consistently higher in patients who showed complete control of chronic infection following NUC therapy
Discussion
HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis caused by genotype D HBV represents a difficult-to-treat form of infection that urgently needs additional therapeutic options. Available therapies are mostly based on the direct inhibition of HBV replication and also IFN-α therapy seems to act more by a direct antiviral effect rather than by a modulation of antiviral responses.1, 2, 10
A possible strategy to improve available therapeutic options is to exploit the protective effect of HBV-specific T cells by
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Conflicts of interest The authors disclose no conflicts.
Funding Supported by a grant from Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Parma, Italy, and by an FIRB grant from the Italian Ministry of the University and Research, Protocol RBAP10TPXK.