T- and B-cell responses to different hepatitis C virus antigens in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection and in healthy anti-hepatitis C virus--positive blood donors without viremia.
As the host's immune response may determine the course of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, we studied the humoral and cellular immune responses to HCV-related antigens in subjects with different outcomes of HCV infection. Lymphoproliferative responses and circulating antibodies to a panel of HCV core- and E1-related 25-mer peptides were examined in 10 healthy anti-HCV-seropositive blood donors (group A) and in 29 patients with chronic hepatitis C (group B). In addition, cellular recognition of recombinant HCV proteins (core, NS3, NS4A, NS5A, NS5B) were investigated. In group A, stronger T-cell responses were detected against both HCV proteins (core, P = .03; NS4, P = .005; NS5B, P = .03) and peptides. Proliferation was induced by the same peptides in each group, defining at least five distinctive epitopes within core (amino acids [aa] of 20-44, aa 39-63, aa 79-103, aa 118-152 and aa 148-172) and three regions within E1(aa 198-252, aa 308-372, and aa 368-392). Subjects with strong T-cell responses had low or no detectable levels of peptide-specific antibodies, and vice versa. In particular, T-cell responses were more common in group A; B-cell responses were more common in group B. From our data, we conclude that a benign course of HCV infection may be the consequence of the effective activation of T-helper lymphocytes.
Lechmann
M
M
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Bonn, Germany.
Ihlenfeldt
H G
HG
Braunschweiger
I
I
Giers
G
G
Jung
G
G
Matz
B
B
Kaiser
R
R
Sauerbruch
T
T
Spengler
U
U
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology*; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
C087035:E1 protein, Hepatitis C virus; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins