In:
Hepatology Research, Wiley, Vol. 38, No. 7 ( 2008-07), p. 664-672
Abstract:
Aim: Previous studies have revealed that functional impairment of innate immune cells, including natural killer (NK) and natural killer T (NKT) cells, might be associated with the persistence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, the involvement of innate immune cells, which predominate in the liver, in therapeutic HCV clearance is still unclear. Methods: To clarify the role of intrahepatic innate immune cells in the clinical outcome of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) treated with interferon‐α plus ribavirin (IFN/RBV), we prospectively investigated the status of NK and NKT cells in paired liver biopsy and peripheral blood (PB) samples obtained from 21 CHC patients before and immediately after IFN/RBV treatment by flow cytometry. Normal liver and PB samples were obtained from 10 healthy donors for living donor liver transplantation. Results: Before treatment, intrahepatic NK and NKT cells constituted a significantly lower proportion in CHC patients than in healthy individuals ( P 〈 0.05). After IFN/RBV treatment, the proportions and absolute numbers of CD3 ‐ CD161 + NK and CD3 + CD56 + NKT cells in the liver, but not in PB, were significantly increased in sustained responders (SR) as compared with poor responders ( P 〈 0.05). The proportion of CD3 + CD161 + NKT cells was also increased in the liver of SR after the treatment. Moreover, there was a striking increase of activated CD152 + cells among CD3 + CD56 + NKT cells in the liver of SR ( P = 0.041). Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that sustained response to IFN/RBV treatment for patients with CHC is closely associated with increased dynamism of NK and NKT cells in the liver.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1386-6346
,
1872-034X
DOI:
10.1111/hep.2008.38.issue-7
DOI:
10.1111/j.1872-034X.2008.00317.x
Language:
English
Publisher:
Wiley
Publication Date:
2008
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2006439-1
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1387041-5
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