Complement factors C3a and C5a mimick a proinflammatory microenvironment and increase HBV IGRA sensitivity

摘要

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) infections represent a global health problem and chronic hepatitis B (CHB) leads to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Thus, timely diagnosis of hepatitis B is crucial to ensure adequate treatment. We developed a powerful and rapid whole blood-based cytokine release assay assessing cellular immune responses to HBV antigens. IL-2 and IFNγ release in this assay depicts hepatitis B vaccination status. Of note, CHB goes along with elevated C5a concentrations in plasma. We aim at mimicking the proinflammatory microenvironment associated with HBV infection to enhance the diagnostic quality of our HBV specific cytokine release assay. We specifically investigated the potential of the complement factors C3a and C5a as costimulators and analyzed their potential effects on activation marker expression on T cells and antigen presenting cells.