title: Magnitude of CD8 T-cell responses against hepatitis C virus and severity of hepatitis do not necessarily determine outcomes in acute hepatitis C virus infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the relationship between the magnitude of comprehensive hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses and the clinical course of acute HCV infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six consecutive patients with acute HCV infection were studied. Analysis of HCV-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses was performed using an interferon-gamma-based enzyme-linked immunospot assay using peripheral CD8(+) T-cells, monocytes and 297 20-mer synthetic peptides overlapping by 10 residues and spanning the entire HCV sequence of genotype 1b.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five patients presented detectable HCV-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses against a single and different peptide, whereas 1 patient showed responses against three different peptides. Neither the magnitude of HCV-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses nor the severity of hepatitis predicts the outcome of acute hepatitis. The maximum number of HCV-specific CD8(+) T-cells correlated with maximum serum alanine aminotransferase level during the course (r = 0.841, P = 0.036).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCV-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses were detectable in all 6 patients with acute HCV infection, and 6 novel HCV-specific CTL epitopes were identified. Acute HCV infection can resolve with detectable HCV-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses, but without development of antibody against HCV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.forename: Kazumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hiroishi
authors.forename: Tomoe
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimazaki
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eguchi
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Takayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumura
authors.forename: Hisako
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nozawa
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.forename: Shigeaki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hiraide
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakaki
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imawari