PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELL RESPONSES TO RECOMBINANT HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-ANTIGENS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C

Peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferative responses in vitro to recombinant yeast or Escherichia coli hepatitis C virus fusion protein s were evaluated in 20 patients with chronic hepatitis C who were reac tive for antibody to hepatitis C virus (on enzyme immunoassay, version 2.0, and a four-antigen recombinant immunoblot assay). Twenty age-mat ched, healthy individuals negative for antibody to hepatitis C virus w ere used as a control group. Peripheral-blood mononuclear cells from a ll chronic hepatitis C patients with antibodies to hepatitis C virus a ntigens c22 and c100-3 proliferated in vitro in response to the corres ponding recombinant hepatitis C virus fusion protein. Peripheral-blood mononuclear cells from 75% of patients infected with hepatitis C viru s proliferated in response to cytidine monophosphate-keto-3-deoxyoctul osonic acid-core recombinant antigen but there was no proliferative re sponse to cytidine monophosphate-keto-3-deoxyoctulosonic acid-EF (deri ved from the NS5 region). All hepatitis C virus-infected patients had 33c antibody, but peripheral-blood mononuclear cells from only 9 of 14 (64%) proliferated in vitro in response to 33c. Ninety-five percent o f all hepatitis C virus-infected patients had peripheral-blood mononuc lear cells that proliferated in response to at least one recombinant h epatitis C virus fusion protein. The numbers and percentages of CD3 T cells, CD19 B cells and natural killer cells from patients with chroni c hepatitis C virus infection did not differ from those in the healthy control group. However, the number of non-major histocompatibility co mplex-restricted cytotoxic T cells (CD3-positive, CD56-positive, CD16- positive) was increased in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus inf ection (p < 0.05).