To Explore the Impact of Interferon-Lambda on the Exhausted Hcv Specific T Cell Responses in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C virus infection is a serious health issue in Taiwan and whole wide world. The host-virus interaction mediated by immune responses is an important factor that relates to the outcome of this virus infection. A combination therapy with pegylated interferon- and ribavirin is the standard treatment for chronic HCV hepatitis with substantial effect, at least in Taiwan. On the other hand, it was already known that HCV specific T cells were exhausted and lack of efficient effector functions in patients with chronic hepatitis C. In recent one year, a single nucleotide polymorphism of interferon- (IL28B) was found to be highly associated with the spontaneous recovery of HCV infection and treatment outcome of chronic hepatitis C. However, the role of interferon- on immunopathogensis of chronicity of HCV infection is largely uncovered. In this proposal, we will investigate the immunological role of interferon- in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with pegylated interferon-/Ribavirin treatment. We will firstly investigate the expression pattern of IL28R on the different dendritic cells and possible other immune cells in patients with chronic hepatitis C. We will then study the effect of INF on the phenotypes of different dendritic cells. Finally, we will try to look for the possible contributions of INF- on recovery of the HCV-specific T cells. The purpose of this proposal is to understand the immunological mechanisms of the combination therapy with pegylated interferon- and ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C in order to develop the possible immunotherapy for chronic hepatitis C.

Project ID:PC10107-0349
External Project ID:NSC101-2314-B182-019