Easy and robust testing of T cell responsiveness to HBV antigens in whole blood of chronic Hepatitis B patients

Background and Aim: Hyporesponsiveness of HBV-specific T cells in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection has been well documented using advanced and technically demanding analytical methods like flow cytometry or ELISPOT. Interferon gamma release assays (IGRA) have been developed to support the easy and fast diagnosis of diseases like tuberculosis, which lack robust serological test systems. IGRAs focus on cellular immunity especially memory T cells and thus also allow rapid screening prior to complex flow cytometric testing. We hypothesized that an improved whole blood based cytokine release assay is capab…