Hypercytolytic activity of hepatic natural killer cells correlates with liver injury in chronic hepatitis B patients.

ABSTRACT:

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Natural killer (NK) cells are abundant in the liver and serve as a major innate immune component against microbial infection. Although NK cells have been implicated in inducing hepatocellular damage in patients with chronic hepatitis virus infections, the roles that hepatic NK cells play in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections remain obscure. In this study, we comprehensively characterized intrahepatic and peripheral NK cells and investigated their impact on liver pathology in a cohort of HBV-infected individuals; this cohort included 51 immune-activated (IA) patients, 27 immune-tolerant (IT) carriers, and 26 healthy subjects. We found that NK cells expressing NK receptors (activation receptors) preferentially accumulated in the livers of IA patients, in which they

SUBMITTER: Zhang Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3767982 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature