Scientists from UCL (University College London) have identified a key difference between people who can fight the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) off successfully and those who fail to do so - that a group of cells important in controlling the disease are triggered to 'commit suicide' in patients who are chronically infected.
This discovery provides an important new focus for developing therapies or vaccines that boost the body's ability to manage this infection.
The researchers analysed thousands of genes in T cells, critical players of the immune system required for control of HBV. They found that T cells from patients who were chronically infected were triggered to ‘commit suicide'. This could be an important factor in determining why these patients' immune systems cannot fight the infection, and a process which could be a useful target for new treatments. Their findings are published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most common viruses in the world, and ranks as one of the top ten killer infectious diseases. More than 350 million people have long-term infection with HBV, which may lead to liver cirrhosis, liver failure or liver cancer. In the majority of adults infected, the immune system is able to control the virus very well and is, in fact, more effective than any currently available treatment. Understanding what goes wrong in people with chronic infection is crucial to the development of new therapies.