Unaltered lymphocyte subsets in hepatitis C virus-seropositive blood donors.
Lymphocyte subsets were evaluated by dual-color flow cytometry in whole blood specimens from 35 blood donors who were seropositive on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and whose sera reacted in a four-antigen recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) (referred to as the HCV+R group), 15 donors who were seropositive on ELISA for HCV with indeterminate or negative RIBA results (the HCV+I/N group), and 25 HCV-seronegative controls (HCV-group). The cell subsets assessed included natural killer cells, B cells, T cells, CD4 and CD8 subsets of T cells, and T-cell subsets defined by the coexpression of markers that appear (HLA-DR, CD25, CD38) or disappear (CD45RA) after activation. A one-way analysis of variance revealed no significant differences among the three study groups. These findings show that, unlike cytomegalovirus- and human immunodeficiency virus-positive individuals, HCV-positive individuals do not exhibit lymphocyte alterations indicative of the immune activation caused by chronic viral infection.
Prince
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American Red Cross Blood Services, Los Angeles/Orange Counties Region, California.
Fang
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D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D012016:Reference Values; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
D015703:Antigens, CD; D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens