Modelling the Impact of Cell-To-Cell Transmission in Hepatitis B Virus

Cell-free virus is a well-recognized and efficient mechanism for the spread of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the liver. Cell-to-cell transmission (CCT) can be a more efficient means of virus propagation. Despite experimental evidence implying CCT occurs in HBV, its relative impact is uncertain. We develop a 3-D agent-based model where each hepatocyte changes its viral state according to a dynamical process driven by cell-free virus infection, CCT and intracellular replication. We determine the relative importance of CCT in the development and resolution of acute HBV infection in the presence of cytolytic (CTL) and non-CTL mechanisms. T cell clearance number is defined as the minimum number of infected cells needed to be killed by each T cell at peak infection that results in infection clearance within 12 weeks with hepatocyte turnover (HT, number of equivalent livers) ≤3. We find that CCT has very little impact on the establishment of infection as the mean cccDNA copies/cell remains between 15 to 20 at the peak of the infection regardless of CCT strength. In contrast, CCT inhibit immune-mediated clearance of acute HBV infection as higher CCT strength requires higher T cell clearance number and increases the probability of T cell exhaustion. An effective non-CTL inhibition can counter these negative effects of higher strengths of CCT by supporting rapid, efficient viral clearance and with little liver destruction. This is evident as the T cell clearance number drops by approximately 50% when non-CTL inhibition is increased from 10% to 80%. Higher CCT strength also increases the probability of the incidence of fulminant hepatitis with this phenomenon being unlikely to arise for no CCT. In conclusion, we report the possibility of CCT impacting HBV clearance and its contribution to fulminant hepatitis.