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Regulatory T cells in hepatitis C virus infection
Author(s) -
Chang KyongMi
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
hepatology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.123
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1872-034X
pISSN - 1386-6346
DOI - 10.1111/j.1872-034x.2007.00220.x
Subject(s) - immunology , hepatitis c virus , effector , hepatocellular carcinoma , virology , virus , immune system , chronic infection , population , cirrhosis , il 2 receptor , biology , medicine , t cell , cancer research , environmental health
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a highly mutable RNA virus with a high propensity for chronic infection, affecting over 3% of the world's population. Persistent infection is associated with chronic hepatitis that may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma over many years of infection. While cellular immune response plays a key role in viral infection, HCV persistence is associated with antiviral effector T‐cell dysfunction with increased CD4+ CD25+ Tregs and interleukin‐10+ Tr1cells, raising the possibility that the balance between antiviral effector and regulatory T‐cell subsets contributes to the outcome of HCV infection.