Hepatitis B virus infection in lymphatic tissues in inactive hepatitis B carriers

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in extrahepatic tissues is controversial. To clarify whether episomal HBV can infect nonhepatic tissues, we investigated the molecular forms of HBV in the lymphatic cells of inactive HBV carriers who lacked viremia, thus avoiding contamination with HBV genomes originating from the viral particles present in the serum.

We assessed HBV genome, replicative forms, and viral integrants in the liver, serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and lymph nodes of 21 inactive HBV carriers who tested positive for antibodies against the HBV core antigen (anti-HBc).

Of the 21 anti-HBc positive individuals, HBV-DNA was detected in liver samples of 15 (71.4%), in the lymph nodes of 11 (52.4%), and in PBMC of three (14.3%). However, none of the detected HBV genomes from lymphatic tissues included the replicative forms of HBV. In one case, integrated HBV was present in the lymphatic tissues and the host-viral junction was present in the intronic sequences of chromosome 17.

These data suggest that human lymphatic tissues cannot support viral replication in anti-HBc positive inactive HBV carriers, while retaining the viral genome as an integrated form.