Phenotype and function of monocyte derived dendritic cells in chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

The antiviral T cell failure of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was suggested to be caused by a T cell stimulation defect of dendritic cells (DC). To address this hypothesis, monocyte derived DC (MDDC) of patients with chronic or resolved acute HBV infection and healthy controls were studied phenotypically by FACS analyses and functionally by mixed lymphocyte reaction, ELISA, ELISpot and proliferation assays of MDDC cultures or co-cultures with an allogeneic HBc-specific Th cell clone. HBV infection of MDDC was studied by quantitative PCR. MDDC from HBV patients seemed to be infected by the HBV, showed a reduced surface expression of HLA DR and CD40 and exhibited a r…