Clinical impact of hepatitis B and C virus envelope glycoproteins

Figure 3 Role of hepatitis C glycoproteins in the immune response to hepatitis C infection. Following hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, innate host response is initiated by hepatocytes producing an antiviral state by stimulating interferon inducible genes expression. In case of spontaneous clearance or resolved infection, a strong cellular response, due to CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes (denoted as CD4 and CD8 in the figure), is observed in the early phase of infection. Moreover Regulatory T cells (Treg) cells (LT REG) limit the function of effector T cells. Then neutralizing antibodies are rapidly expressed. In most cases, the host adaptative immunity is unable to control HCV infection evolving to a chronic phase. The cellular response (CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, mentioned as L_B in the figure) is weak and transient. The appearance of neutralizing antibodies is delayed and the humoral response not efficient. IFN: Interferon.