Open AccessA vigorous virus‐specific CD4 + T cell response may contribute to the association of HLA‐DR13 with viral clearance in hepatitis B
Author(s) -
HM Diepolder,
Jung Mc,
E. Keller,
W. Schraut,
JT Gerlach,
Norbert Grüner,
Reinhart Zachoval,
Hoffmann Rm,
Schirren Ca,
Siegfried Scholz,
Pape Gr
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
clinical & experimental immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1365-2249
pISSN - 0009-9104
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2249.1998.00665.x
Subject(s) - immunology , human leukocyte antigen , virology , biology , hepatitis b virus , antigen , virus , clone (java method) , epitope , cd8 , t cell , medicine , immune system , gene , genetics
A strong virus‐specific CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocyte response to hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been associated with viral clearance, but little is known about factors determining the individual's ability to mount such a T cell response. Recently a strong association between the HLA class II allele DR13 and a self‐limited course of HBV infection has been described. In the present study of 33 patients with acute hepatitis B we show that individuals carrying HLA‐DR13 mount a more vigorous CD4 + T cell response to HBV core (5706 ct/min (25th/75th percentile 3239 ct/min; 10 552 ct/min)) than patients without HLA‐DR13 (1365 ct/min (490 ct/min; 5334 ct/min); P = 0.006). However, peptide epitopes aa 50–69, aa 61–85, and aa 81–105 were recognized most frequently by both patient groups. Moreover, among 14 HBV core‐specific CD4 + T cell clones from two patients with HLA‐DR13, only one T cell clone was HLA‐DR13‐restricted. Our data suggest that the beneficial effect of the HLA‐DR13 alleles on the outcome of HBV infection could be explained by a more vigorous HBV core‐specific CD4 + T cell response, which may either be due to more proficient antigen presentation by the HLA‐DR13 molecules themselves or a linked polymorphism in a neighbouring immunoregulatory gene.