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Updated: Aug 8, 2026
"Liver-on-a-Chip" Cultures of Primary Hepatocytes and Kupffer Cells for Hepatitis B Virus Infection
Published on: February 19, 2019
The intrahepatic immune response during chronic hepatitis B infection can be monitored by the fine-needle aspiration
Thjon J Tang1, Harry L A Janssen, Johannes G Kusters
1Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Room L-455, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Frequent analysis of the intrahepatic cellular immune response during chronic hepatitis B infection is not feasible with the liver tissue biopsy technique, due to its risk profile and patient discomfort. We investigated whether the relatively safe and patient-friendly cytological fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) technique is suited for this purpose. FNABs taken during hepatitis flares in three chronic hepatitis B patients treated with interferon-alpha, showed significant increments of CD8(+)-lymphocytes compared with the FNABs taken before and after the flares. No increments were observed in peripheral blood. The increments of intrahepatic CD8+ lymphocytes detected by the FNAB were related to anti-viral immune reactivity, since they coincided with significant serum hepatitis B virus DNA level reductions and in two of three patients with HBeAg seroconversion. In conclusion, the FNAB technique is suited to investigate the intrahepatic immune response during chronic hepatitis B infection on a frequent basis.
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