Plasma FABP4 is associated with liver disease recovery during treatment-induced clearance of chronic HCV infection.

Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have dramatically improved the management of chronic hepatitis C (CHC). In this study, we investigated the effects of hepatitis C virus clearance on markers of systemic inflammation measured in plasma samples from CHC patients before, during and after DAA therapy. We identified a plasma soluble protein profile associated with CHC.

Chronic hepatitis delta virus infection leads to functional impairment and severe loss of MAIT cells.

Background & Aims: Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection is the most severe form of viral hepatitis. Although HDV-associated liver disease is considered immune-mediated, adaptive immune responses against HDV are weak. Thus, the role of several other cell-mediated mechanisms such as those driven by mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, a group of innate-like T cells highly enriched in the human liver, has not been extensively studied in clinical HDV infection.

Proteome analysis of human CD56 NK cells reveals a homogeneous phenotype surprisingly similar to CD56 NK cells.

NK cells lacking CD56 (CD56 ) were first identified in chronic HIV-1 infection. However, CD56 NK cells also exist in healthy individuals, albeit in significantly lower numbers. Here, we provide an extensive proteomic characterisation of human CD56 peripheral blood NK cells of healthy donors and compare them to their CD56 and CD56 counterparts.

Cytomegalovirus-Driven Adaptive-Like Natural Killer Cell Expansions Are Unaffected by Concurrent Chronic Hepatitis Virus Infections.

Adaptive-like expansions of natural killer (NK) cell subsets are known to occur in response to human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. These expansions are typically made up of NKG2C NK cells with particular killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) expression patterns. Such NK cell expansion patterns are also seen in patients with viral hepatitis infection.

Elevated levels of invariant natural killer T-cell and natural killer cell activation correlate with disease progression in HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequency and activation of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells and natural killer (NK) cells among HIV-1, HIV-2, or dually HIV-1/HIV-2 (HIV-D)-infected individuals, in relation to markers of disease progression.

Design: Whole blood samples were collected from treatment-naive HIV-1 (n = 23), HIV-2 (n = 34), and HIV-D (n = 11) infected individuals, as well as HIV-seronegative controls (n = 25), belonging to an occupational cohort in Guinea-Bissau.

Methods: Frequencies and activation levels of iNKT and NK cell subsets were analysed using multicolour flow cytometry, and results were related to HIV-status, CD4 T-cell levels, viral load, and T-cell activation.

The dynamic relationship between innate immune biomarkers and interferon-based treatment effects and outcome in hepatitis C virus infection is altered by telaprevir.

Soluble CD14 (sCD14) and IL-18 are markers and mediators of the innate immune response, and their plasma levels candidate biomarkers of HCV treatment effects and outcome. Here, we retrospectively studied sCD14 and IL-18 over the course of interferon-based treatment of HCV genotype 1 infection, with the aim to investigate the impact of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) on the dynamics and relationships between these biomarkers and treatment effects and outcome. Two cohorts were followed longitudinally; one treated with standard dual therapy of pegylated IFNα and ribavirin, and one cohort receiving triple therapy including Telaprevir.

Effects of HDV infection and pegylated interferon α treatment on the natural killer cell compartment in chronically infected individuals.

Objective: Although hepatitis delta is considered an immune-mediated disease, adaptive immune responses to hepatitis delta virus (HDV) are hardly detectable. Thus, the role of other immune responses, including those mediated by natural killer (NK) cells, must be considered in HDV pathogenesis and in treatments with immune-stimulating agents such as interferon (IFN)α. However, the phenotype and function of NK cells in chronic HDV infection, or in HDV-infected individuals undergoing IFNα treatment, have not been extensively studied.

Compromised function of natural killer cells in acute and chronic viral hepatitis.

Background:  Natural killer (NK) cells are an integral part of the innate immune system. They have been suggested to play an important role in both defense against viral hepatitis and the pathogenesis of other liver diseases.

Methods:  NK cells from 134 individuals including patients with acute hepatitis B and C as well as chronic hepatitis B, C, and delta (D) patients were studied.

Regulation of T-lymphocyte CCL3 and CCL4 production by retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Purpose: Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells have an important role in the immune suppression associated with the immune privilege of the eye. Some aspects of this remain unclear and this study aimed to determine how RPE cells could influence the production of chemokines by T lymphocytes.

Methods: T lymphocytes, separated from peripheral blood of normal volunteers, and RPE cells, cultured from donor eyes, were cultured separately and together, either in contact or in transwells.

Soluble biomarkers of HIV transmission, disease progression and comorbidities.

Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this study is to survey and synthesize recent progress in soluble biomarkers relevant to HIV-1 disease stages, progression and comorbidities.

Recent Findings: Soluble biomarkers in plasma and other body fluids provide insight into many aspects of HIV-1 disease. Chemokines and defensins in breast milk and cervicovaginal secretions have been associated with HIV-1 susceptibility and transmission.