Chronic hepatitis B: The interplay between intrahepatic lymphocyte population and viral antigens in relation to liver damage.
J Viral Hepat
; 26(6): 727-737, 2019 06.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30739377
In Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection, virus and immune response interplay is thought to be responsible for pathogenesis. Yet, the impact of each immune cell population and viral protein expression in liver damage is still unknown. Our aim was to study the interplay between intrahepatic immune response and viral activity in relation to CHB liver damage. Immunostaining was performed in 29 liver biopsies from untreated CHB patients to characterize liver infiltrate [Th (CD4+), CTL (CD8+), Treg (FoxP3+), Th17 (IL-17A+) and Th1 (T-bet+)] and viral antigen expression (HBsAg and HBcAg). Inflammatory activity and fibrosis were assessed using the HAI and METAVIR scoring system. All studied populations were identified in the portal-periportal (P-P) areas with a CD4+ lymphocyte predominance, while only CD8+ and FoxP3+ cells were observed in the intralobular area. Both P-P CD4+ and intralobular CD8+ cell frequencies were increased among severe hepatitis cases. Concerning HBsAg and HBcAg expression, a mutually exclusive pattern was observed. HBcAg was mainly detected among HBeAg-positive patients and was associated with hepatitis severity and higher frequency of P-P FoxP3+, intralobular CD8+ and FoxP3+ cells. HBsAg was identified among HBeAg-negative cases with less severe hepatitis grade and lower frequency of P-P CD4+ and intralobular FoxP3+ lymphocytes. In conclusion, the HBV antigen profile expression seen during CHB infection may be reflecting different stages of viral replication which impacts the host immune response and liver damage process. While HBcAg might be an inducer of a regulatory microenvironment, the intralobular CTL population seemed to have a key role in hepatitis severity.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Subpopulações de Linfócitos
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Hepatite B Crônica
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Fígado
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Antígenos Virais
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Viral Hepat
Assunto da revista:
GASTROENTEROLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Argentina
País de publicação:
Reino Unido