- Autores: Larissa Deadame de Figueiredo Nicolete, Celso Vladimiro Cunha, João Paulo Tavanez, Mariana Tomazini Pinto, Evandra Strazza Rodrigues, Simone Kashima, Dimas Tadeu Covas, Juan Miguel Villalobos-Salcedo, Roberto Nicolete
- Ano de Publicação: 2021
- Journal: International Immunopharmacology, vol 91, art 107302
- Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intimp.2020.107302
HIGHLIGHTS
• HBsAg and SHDAg display toxicity in co-cultured cells (Jurkat + THP-1).
• PEG-IFN reduces cytotoxicity profile and increases IL-12, IL-2 and IFN-γ production.
• PEG-IFN restores the production of IFN-γ by SHDAg-stimulated cells.
ABSTRACT
The treatment for hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) still consists of Pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) combined with inhibitors of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication. In some patients may be occur a virological response, which means a negative HDV RNA 6 months after stopping treatment. In this study it was conducted an in vitro approach with the aim to mimic possible immunological events that are observed in patients responding to PEG-IFN therapy. Jurkat cells (human T lymphocyte cell line) were employed alone or co-cultured with THP-1 (human monocytic cell line) and stimulated with controls and HBV Surface Antigen (HBsAg), Small-Delta Antigen (SHDAg), and HBsAg + SHDAg combined. Twenty-four hours stimulation with SHDAg and/or HBSAg led to a toxic profile in a co-culture condition and cell supernatants were collected for cytokines quantification. PEG-IFN was added and cells were incubated for additional 24 h. Co-cultured cells incubated with the association (SHDAg + PEG-IFN) significantly produced levels of IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-12. On the other hand, the HBsAg alone was able to inhibit the production of IFN-γ, suggesting that this antigen may hinder the treatment exclusively with PEG-IFN.
KEYWORDS
HBV; HDV; PEG-IFN; Cytokines.