A subset of liver resident natural killer cells is expanded in hepatitis C-infected patients with better liver function.

ABSTRACT: Viral hepatitis leads to immune-mediated liver injury. The rate of disease progression varies between individuals. We aimed to phenotype immune cells associated with preservation of normal liver function during hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Clinical data and specimens were obtained from 19 HCV-infected patients undergoing liver transplantation. Liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and eight subsets of innate immune cells were delineated by multiparameter flow cytometry. Cytokine assays and microarrays were performed. Intrahepatic CD56^Bright/CD16^- natural killer (NK) cells comprised the only subset correlating with better liver function, i.e., lower bilirubin (p = 0.0002) and lower model for end stage of liver disease scores (p = 0.03). The s

SUBMITTER: Doyle EH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7810844 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature