Premium
Role of soluble inflammatory mediators and different immune cell populations in early control of symptomatic acute hepatitis C virus infection
Author(s) -
Hengst Julia,
Klein Andreas L.,
Lunemann Sebastian,
Deterding Katja,
Hardtke Svenja,
Falk Christine S.,
Manns Michael P.,
Cornberg Markus,
Schlaphoff Verena,
Wedemeyer Heiner
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of viral hepatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1365-2893
pISSN - 1352-0504
DOI - 10.1111/jvh.13050
Subject(s) - immune system , chemokine , immunology , hepatitis c virus , virus , cytokine , biology , cell , t cell , inflammation , medicine , virology , genetics
Summary The natural course of acute Hepatitis C Virus ( aHCV ) infection is highly heterogeneous, and only few biomarkers have been identified to reliably predict the outcome of infection. We analysed a large panel of soluble inflammatory mediators, immune cell frequencies and phenotypes using peripheral blood samples from 26 patients with symptomatic aHCV infection from a controlled randomized clinical trial ( ISRCTN 88729946, www.isrctn.com ). We found that patients with a spontaneous early HCV control demonstrated a distinct expression pattern of various soluble immune mediators including IFN α and IL ‐16. Immune cell phenotype and frequency differed between patients who cleared the viral infection early (n=13) and those who remained HCV RNA positive after 12 weeks of observation (n=13) with a reduced ratio of CD 4 + T cells to NK cells in the non–early clearer. Further, correlation analyses of 50 cytokines and chemokines revealed more positive correlations in between the distinct cytokines, especially for IFN α and IL ‐16, and between the cytokines and HCV RNA levels in spontaneous early clearer patients. Beyond that, in vitro stimulation of CD 4 + T cells with IL ‐16 reduced the susceptibility of these cells to killing by IFN α‐activated NK cells. These data indicate that the immune cell composition and cytokine pattern varies considerably in patients with symptomatic aHCV infection. NK cell–mediated killing of CD 4 + T cells might affect early control of HCV infection.