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- Title
Heterologous T cell immunity in severe hepatitis C virus infection.
- Authors
Urbani, Simona; Amadei, Barbara; Fisicaro, Paola; Pilli, Massimo; Missale, Gabriele; Bertoletti, Antonio; Ferrari, Carlo
- Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can cause liver disease of variable severity. Expansion of preexisting memory CD8 T cells by cross-reactivity with a new heterologous virus infection has been shown in mice to shape the repertoire of the primary response and to influence virus-related immunopathology. To determine whether this mechanism can influence the course of HCV infection, we analyzed the features of the HCV-specific CD8 T cell response in eight patients with acute HCV infection, two of whom had a particularly severe illness. Patients with severe hepatitis, but not those with mild disease, showed an extremely vigorous CD8 T cell response narrowly focused on a single epitope (NS3 1073-1081), which cross-reacted with an influenza neuraminidase sequence. Our results suggest that CD8 T cell cross-reactivity influences the severity of the HCV-associated liver pathology and depicts a model of disease induction that may apply to different viral infections.
- Publication
The Journal of experimental medicine, 2005, Vol 201, Issue 5, p675
- ISSN
0022-1007
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1084/jem.20041058