nature.com > Journal home > Table of Contents
Original Article
Molecular Therapy (5 December 2013) | doi:10.1038/mt.2013.274
Immunological and Antiviral Responses After Therapeutic DNA Immunization in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients Efficiently Treated by Analogues
O Godon, H Fontaine, S Kahi, JF Meritet, D Scott-Algara, S Pol, ML Michel, M Bourgine and ; for the ANRS HB02 study group
Abstract
A substudy of a phase I/II, prospective, multicenter clinical trial was carried out to investigate the potential benefit of therapeutic vaccination on hepatitis B e antigen-negative patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), treated efficiently with analogues. Patients were randomized in 2 arms, one receiving a hepatitis B virus (HBV) envelope DNA vaccine, and one without vaccination. At baseline, HBV-specific interferon (IFN)-γ–producing T cells were detected in both groups after in vitro expansion of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Vaccine-specific responses remained stable in the vaccine group, whereas in the control group the percentage of patients with HBV-specific IFN-γ–producing T cells decreased over time. The vaccine-specific cytokine-producing T cells were mostly polyfunctional CD4+ T cells, and the proportion of triple cytokine-producer T cells was boosted after DNA injections. However, these T-cell responses did not impact on HBV reactivation after stopping analogue treatment. Importantly, before cessation of treatment serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) titers were significantly associated with DNA or HBsAg clearance. Therapeutic vaccination in CHB patients with persistent suppression of HBV replication led to the persistence of T-cell responses, but further improvements should be searched for to control infection after treatment discontinuation. 作者: StephenW 时间: 2014-1-8 11:51
