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Immunity to hepatitis C virus: stunned but not defeated
Paul Klenerman1, Michaela Lucas, Ellie Barnes
1Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Peter Medawar Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK. klener@molbiol.ox.ac.uk
Microbes and Infection
|February 5, 2002
Abstract:
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) readily causes a persistent infection, although some individuals spontaneously control infection. 'Successful' immune responses appear to be multi-specific and sustained-including a major role for CD4(+)T cells. Some antiviral CD8(+)T cells show reduced capacity to secrete antiviral cytokines either temporarily ('stunning') or in the long term ('stunting'). The co-ordination of multiple immune effector functions may be required to gain control of HCV.