Hepatic interferon-α gene transcripts and products in liver specimens from acute and chronic hepatitis B virus infection

✍ Scribed by Kayhan T. Nouri-Aria; Joachim Arnold; Fergus Davison; Bernard C. Portmann; Anthony Meager; Alan G. Morris; Graeme J. M. Alexander; Adrian L. W. F. Eddleston; Dr. Roger Williams

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 767 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.1840130604

✦ Synopsis

In this study we have examined the localization of interferon-a in liver tissue from acute and chronic hepatitis B virus carriers to establish whether the defect in interferon-a production reported in chronic hepatitis B virus infection is at a pretranscriptional or posttranscriptional level using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical techniques. Interferon-a messenger RNA transcripts and the immunoreactive protein were abundant in liver tissue and in particular in hepatocytes from patients with acute hepatitis B virus infection who subsequently recovered. In contrast interferon-a polypeptide was present in a significantly lower number of sinusoidal cells, mononuclear cells and hepatocytes in chronic hepatitis I3 v i m carriers. Although a high proportion of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection had cells that expressed interferon-a messenger RNA transcripts, the number of such cells was significantly less than in acute hepatitis B virus infection, indicating that the defect in the hepatic interferon-asynthesis is at the level of gene activation. Furthermore, using double immunohistochemical staining, the number of hepatocytes containing HBcAg correlated inversely with the proportion of neighboring sinusoidal cells expressing interferon-a. These data support previous observations that interferon-a production is reduced in chronic hepatitis B virus infection and are consistent with the view that this cytokine is important in the clearance of the virus.