Trial reportThe Journal of clinical investigation2018
PD-1 blockade partially recovers dysfunctional virus-specific B cells in chronic hepatitis B infection.
Trial report in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 178 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
178 citing papers in PubMed, 271 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sequential combination of anti-PD-1 antibody and PEG-IFNα in chronic hepatitis B patients: correlates of HBsAg loss with enhanced T-cell responses.Emerging microbes & infections · 2026Trial
- Predictive value of soluble PD-1 for HBsAg loss in HbeAg-negative patients with chronic hepatitis B: results from a prospective study.Hepatology international · 2025Trial
- Restoration of HBV-specific CD8Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2021Trial
- Therapeutic Potential of TLR8 Agonist GS-9688 (Selgantolimod) in Chronic Hepatitis B: Remodeling of Antiviral and Regulatory Mediators.Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) · 2021Trial
- Bayesian analysis of cytokines and chemokine identifies immune pathways of HBsAg loss during chronic hepatitis B treatment.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Circulating and intrahepatic antiviral B cells are defective in hepatitis B.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2018Trial
- Viral subversion of B-cell tolerance: mechanisms linking infection to autoimmunity.EMBO reports · 2026Review
- High Frequency of Circulating IL-4RJournal of clinical and translational hepatology · 2026Article
- Occult hepatitis B virus infection.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
- Article
- Dysregulated BCR repertoire and metabolic state of HBsAg-specific B cells in chronic hepatitis B revealed by integrated single-cell analysis.Hepatology communications · 2026Article
- Review
- Review
- Article
- Human CD21Journal of human immunity · 2026Review
- A preS2 aa1-26-specific humoural response marks functional cure in chronic HBV infection.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- CD72 downregulation is associated with increased CD5+ B cell proliferation and IL-10 production via ERK/Syk signaling in chronic HBV infection-associated liver disease.Virus research · 2026Article
- IgA-Producing B Cells Exert Regulatory Function through Granzyme B in Kidney Allograft Tolerance.Kidney360 · 2026Observational
- HIV causes global B cell dysregulation and restricts HBV-specific B cell development in an incident HBV cohort.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026Observational
- Clonal amplification of peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T cells is associated with clinical response to checkpoint blockade in chronic hepatitis B.ImmunoHorizons · 2026Article
118 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Chronic HBV (CHB) infection suppresses virus-specific T cells, but its impact on humoral immunity has been poorly analyzed. Here, we developed a dual-staining method that utilizes hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigens (HBsAg) labeled with fluorochromes as "baits" for specific ex vivo detection of HBsAg-specific B cells and analysis of their quantity, function, and phenotype. We studied healthy vaccinated subjects (n = 18) and patients with resolved (n = 21), acute (n = 11), or chronic (n = 96) HBV infection and observed that frequencies of circulating HBsAg-specific B cells were independent of HBV infection status. In contrast, the presence of serum HBsAg affected function and phenotype of HBsAg-specific B cells that were unable to mature in vitro into Ab-secreting cells and displayed an increased expression of markers linked to hyperactivation (CD21lo) and exhaustion (PD-1). Importantly, B cell alterations were not limited to HBsAg-specific B cells, but affected the global B cell population. HBsAg-specific B cell maturation could be partially restored by a method involving the combination of the cytokines IL-2 and IL-21 and CD40L-expressing feeder cells and was further boosted by the addition of anti-PD-1 Abs. In conclusion, HBV infection has a marked impact on global and HBV-specific humoral immunity, yet HBsAg-specific B cells are amenable to a partial rescue by B cell-maturing cytokines and PD-1 blockade.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.