title: Adoptive immune transfer of hepatitis B virus specific immunity from immunized living liver donors to liver recipients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Liver transplantation is often the ultimate option of therapy for chronically hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients. Prevention of reinfection is therapy intensive and cost-effective. Adoptive transfer of HBV-specific immunity with the liver from an immune living liver donor (LLD) could be a new approach to prevent reinfection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-six potential LLDs were vaccinated against HBV. Humoral (antibodies to hepatitis B virus surface antigen [anti-HBs]-titer) and cellular (IFN-gamma-ELISpot and proliferation-assay) immune responses were examined in donors after immunization and in recipients before and after transplantation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Anti-HBs-titers of up to 50,000 IU/L were detected in LLDs. Fourteen recipients received livers from these donors. We detected humoral immunity in one HBV-naïve recipient and in one chronically HBV-infected recipient after transplantation. A transfer of cellular immunity (SI>3) was seen in three recipients. These patients received livers from donors with high anti-HBs-titers of more than 9000 IU/L. Cellular immunity was also detected in the corresponding donors (SI >3 and spots >22).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrates that HBV-specific humoral and cellular immunity can be transferred by liver transplantation after vaccination of the donors. The transfer of B-cell and T-cell immunity correlates with the magnitude of immune responses in the donor.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Virologie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Virchowstrasse 179, 45122 Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schumann
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindemann
authors.forename: Camino
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valentin-Gamazo
authors.forename: Mengji
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elmaagacli
authors.forename: Uta
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dahmen
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Knop
authors.forename: Christoph E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Broelsch
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grosse-Wilde
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roggendorf
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fiedler
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged