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Study of liver‐targeted regulatory T cells in hepatitis B and C virus in chronically infected patients
Author(s) -
Miyaaki Hisamitsu,
Zhou Huijuan,
Ichikawa Tatsuki,
Nakao Kazuhiko,
Shibata Hidetaka,
Takeshita Shigeyuki,
Akiyama Motohisa,
Ozawa Eisuke,
Miuma Satoshi,
Eguchi Katsumi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
liver international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.873
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1478-3231
pISSN - 1478-3223
DOI - 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2008.01842.x
Subject(s) - foxp3 , cd8 , hepatitis c virus , immunology , viral load , hepatitis b virus , medicine , antibody , regulatory t cell , t cell , cd3 , antigen , il 2 receptor , virus , immune system
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a critical role in chronic viral infections. The role of Tregs in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is unknown. This study examined the distribution and frequency of forkhead box p3 + (Foxp3 + ) Tregs in the liver tissue and compared the clinicopathological characteristics of CHB and CHC patients. Methods: Liver needle biopsies were obtained from 26 patients who were hepatitis B surface antigen positive and 27 patients who were hepatitis C virus antibody positive. Results: The ratio of Foxp3 + Tregs in CD3 + T cells was similar in HBV and in HCV cases. In HBV cases, the variables that were positively associated with the ratio of Foxp3 + Tregs in CD3 + T cells included the serum alanine aminotransferase level ( R =0.402, P =0.025) and the ratio of CD8 + T cell plus CD56 + NK cell against CD4 + T cell ( R =0.53, P =0.005). The ratio of Foxp3 + Tregs in CD3 + T cells increased more in the severe activity group than in the mild activity group ( P =0.04). In HCV cases, the ratio of Foxp3 + Tregs in CD3 + T cells increased significantly in terms of the genotype2 ( P =0.0002) and male gender ( P =0.04). In addition, the ratio of Foxp3 + Tregs in CD3 + T cells showed a negative correlation with the ratio of CD8 + T cell plus CD56 + NK cell against CD4 + T cell ( R =−0.508, P =0.005) and HCV viral load ( R =−0.482, P =0.001). Conclusions: Liver‐targeted regulatory T cells present similarly in CHB and CHC, but their relationship with the effector cell population, the inflammation grade or the viral load is different between CHB and CHC.