Does Treatment-Induced Recovery from Hepatitis C Result in the Same Immunological Memory as Spontaneous Recovery?
C. Weiler-Normann, Liver Diseases Branch, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, T. Heller, Liver Diseases Branch, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, Y. Sobao, Liver Diseases Branch, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, G. Lutchman, Liver Diseases Branch, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, B. Borg, Liver Diseases Branch, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, M. Ghany, Liver Diseases Branch, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, T. Liang, Liver Diseases Branch, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, J. Hoofnagle, Liver Diseases Branch, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, B. Rehermann, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD Introduction Spontaneous HCV clearance is associated with vigorous T cell responses that remain detectable for decades after recovery. In the non-human primate model, these T cell responses mediate protective immunity upon rechallenge. Methods Studying 51 patients, we have assessed whether successful interferon-based therapy results in the same type of immunological memory as spontaneous HCV clearance. Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) were c
