Circulating plasmacytoid dendritic cells in acutely infected patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 4 are normal in number and phenotype.
The incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4 infection in Egypt provides a unique opportunity to study the innate immune response to symptomatic acute HCV infection. We investigated whether plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are activated as a result of HCV infection. We demonstrate that, even during symptomatic acute infection, circulating pDCs maintained a similar precursor frequency and resting phenotype, compared with pDCs in healthy individuals. Moreover, stimulation with a Toll-like receptor 9 agonist resulted in an intact inflammatory response. These data support the growing consensus that pDCs are not directly activated by HCV and therefore are viable targets for immunotherapy throughout HCV infection.
Liver Disease Research Unit, National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Aim Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Hala
H
Mansour
Melissa E
ME
Laird
Rasha
R
Saleh
Armanda
A
Casrouge
Noha Sharaf
NS
Eldin
Sherif
S
El Kafrawy
Maha
M
Hamdy
Jérémie
J
Decalf
Brad R
BR
Rosenberg
Arnaud
A
Fontanet
Mohammed
M
Abdel-Hamid
Mostafa K
MK
Mohamed
Matthew L
ML
Albert
Mona
M
Rafik
D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D004534:Egypt; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors
D012367:RNA, Viral; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors