Analysis of intrahepatic lymphocyte subsets in a transgenic mouse model of immune-mediated hepatocarcinogenesis.
Long-term, persistent liver cell injury increases the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in chronic viral hepatitis. In support of this notion, we have developed a unique animal model of chronic immune-mediated liver disease that induces hepatocellular carcinogenesis using HBV transgenic mice; however, the intrahepatic inflammatory response was not precisely evaluated. The current study demonstrated that hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) were detected at a frequency of 0.05% of CD8+ T lymphocytes in the liver, and that monocytes/macrophages were remarkably increased as the disease developed. These results suggest that a minimal number of intrahepatic virus-specific CTLs and the recruited monocytes/macrophages may contribute to the process of chronic liver inflammation.
Nakamoto
Y
Y
Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan. ynakamot@medf.m.kanazawa-u.ac.ja
Kaneko
S
S
D000818:Animals; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000235:genetics; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009000:Monocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000378:metabolism