T cells protect against hepatitis A virus infection and limit infection-induced liver injury.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a common cause of enterically transmitted viral hepatitis. In non-immune individuals, infection results in typically transient but occasionally fulminant and fatal inflammatory liver injury. Virus-specific T cell frequencies peak when liver damage is at its zenith, leading to the prevalent notion that T cells exacerbate liver disease, as suspected for other hepatotropic virus infections. However, the overall contribution of T cells to the control of HAV and the pathogenesis of hepatitis A is unclear and has been impeded by a historic lack of small animal models.

Methods

Ifnar1^-/- mice are highly permissive for HAV and develop pathogenesis that recapitulates many features of hepatitis A. Using this model, we identified H

SUBMITTER: Misumi I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8604763 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature