Analysis of Successful Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cell Responses in acute HBV infection

Depletion studies in acutely HBV-infected chimpanzees have demonstrated that CD8+ T cells are the main effector cells responsible for viral clearance and liver disease pathogenesis during acute HBV infection. In a successful immune response, an antigen-specific memory CD8+ T cell pool is established. However, there is only limited information available to date about the functional and phenotypical characteristics of HBV-specific CD8+ T cells and their association with clinical parameters in acute HBV infection. Thus, in order to elucidate these important issues, we have studied prospectively the frequency, funct…