Mechanism of T cell hyporesponsiveness to HBcAg is associated with regulatory T cells in chronic hepatitis B

Figure 5 Addition of neutralizing anti-IL-10 antibody restores HBcAg-specific production of IFN-γ by CD4⁺ in patients with hepatitis B. PBMCs obtained from 5 patients with CHB and 7 healthy subjects were stimulated with HBcAg (10 μg/mL) for 9 h and thereafter cells were stained for IFN-γ-secretion (PE) and anti-CD4-PerCP to determine the population of HBcAg-specific T_H1 being identified as IFN-γ⁺ cells in CD4⁺ T cells (A). Anti-IL-10 neutralizing antibody or isotype-matched control antibody were added to the culture during stimulation with HBcAg. The addition of anti-IL-10 antibody did not affect the percentage of CD4⁺ T cells (B). In culture with anti-IL-10 antibody, numbers of HBcAg-specific T_H1 were significantly higher than those in culture with a control antibody (C).