Peripheral blood dendritic cells are phenotypically and functionally intact in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection

Summary Persistence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is associated with reduced anti-viral T cell responses. Impaired dendritic cell (DC) function was suggested as the cause of reduced T cell stimulation in chronic HBV carriers. Thus, we compared myeloid (mDC) and plasmacytoid DC (pDC) from chronic HBV carriers and controls. Frequency and phenotype of isolated DC were analysed by fluorescence activated cell sorter staining, DC function by mixed lymphocyte reaction, cytokine bead array, intracellular cytokine staining, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and enzyme-linked immunospot. Expression of HBV DNA and mRNA was studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Circulating total DC, mDC or…