Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34242330›Full record

ArticlePloS one2021

Partial restoration of immune response in Hepatitis C patients after viral clearance by direct-acting antiviral therapy.

Meritxell Llorens-Revull, Maria Isabel Costafreda, Angie Rico, Mercedes Guerrero-Murillo, Maria Eugenia Soria, Sofía Píriz-Ruzo, Elena Vargas-Accarino, Pablo Gabriel-Medina, Francisco Rodríguez-Frías, Mar Riveiro-Barciela and 5 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Hepatitis C Eradication Improves Oncologic and Clinical Outcomes in Patients Treated With Atezolizumab Plus Bevacizumab.Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. After the Storm: Persistent Molecular Alterations Following HCV Cure.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Review
  10. Biomarkers in Detection of Hepatitis C Virus Infection.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Meritxell Llorens-RevullLiver Diseases-Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Liver Unit, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (HUVH), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Maria Isabel CostafredaLiver Diseases-Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Liver Unit, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (HUVH), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Angie RicoLiver Diseases-Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Liver Unit, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (HUVH), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Mercedes Guerrero-MurilloLiver Diseases-Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Liver Unit, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (HUVH), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Maria Eugenia SoriaCentro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" (CSIC-UAM), Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain.
Sofía Píriz-RuzoLiver Diseases-Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Liver Unit, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (HUVH), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Elena Vargas-AccarinoLiver Diseases-Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Liver Unit, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (HUVH), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Pablo Gabriel-MedinaLiver Pathology Laboratory, Biochemistry and Microbiology Unit, Vall d'Hebron Hospital Universitari (HUVH), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Francisco Rodríguez-FríasCentro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Mar Riveiro-BarcielaCentro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Celia PeralesCentro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Josep QuerLiver Diseases-Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Liver Unit, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (HUVH), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Silvia SauledaCentro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Juan Ignacio EstebanLiver Diseases-Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Liver Unit, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (HUVH), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Marta BesCentro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-6103-072X
Instituto de Salud Carlos III · ESUniversitat Autònoma de Barcelona · ESVall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca · ESHospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz · ESVall d'Hebron Hospital Universitari · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND &

aimsHCV CD4+ and CD8+ specific T cells responses are functionally impaired during chronic hepatitis C infection. DAAs therapies eradicate HCV infection in more than 95% of treated patients. However, the impact of HCV elimination on immune responses remain controversial. Here, we aimed to investigate whether HCV cure by DAAs could reverse the impaired immune response to HCV.

methodsWe analyzed 27 chronic HCV infected patients undergoing DAA treatment in tertiary care hospital, and we determined the phenotypical and functional changes in both HCV CD8+ and CD4+ specific T-cells before and after viral clearance. PD-1, TIM-3 and LAG-3 cell-surface expression was assessed by flow cytometry to determine CD4+ T cell exhaustion. Functional responses to HCV were analyzed by IFN-Ɣ ELISPOT, intracellular cytokine staining (IL-2 and IFN-Ɣ) and CFSE-based proliferation assays.

resultsWe observed a significant decrease in the expression of PD-1 in CD4+ T-cells after 12 weeks of viral clearance in non-cirrhotic patients (p = 0.033) and in treatment-naive patients (p = 0.010), indicating a partial CD4 phenotype restoration. IFN-Ɣ and IL-2 cytokines production by HCV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells remained impaired upon HCV eradication. Finally, a significant increase of the proliferation capacity of both HCV CD4+ and CD8+ specific T-cells was observed after HCV elimination by DAAs therapies.

conclusionsOur results show that in chronically infected patients HCV elimination by DAA treatment lead to partial reversion of CD4+ T cell exhaustion. Moreover, proliferative capacity of HCV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells is recovered after DAA's therapies.

Indexed as

Antiviral AgentsCD4-Positive T-LymphocytesCD8-Positive T-LymphocytesHepacivirusHepatitis C, ChronicAdultAgedFemaleHumansInterferon-gammaMaleMiddle AgedProgrammed Cell Death 1 ReceptorAntiviral AgentsInterferon-gammaPDCD1 protein, humanProgrammed Cell Death 1 Receptor

Identifiers

PMID34242330
PMCPMC8270431
OpenAlexW3179413926

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.