Cell-mediated Immune Response in Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection: Are Different Strategies Adopted by HCV and Hepatitis B Virus to Persist?

Immune-mediated mechanisms play an important role in the pathogenesis of liver cell injury and viral persistence in both HCV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. However, the different vigor of HLA class I and class II restricted, anti-viral T cell responses in chronic hepatitis C and B and the different cytokine profiles within HCV and HBV infected livers suggest that these hepatotropic viruses have evolved different strategies to persist within their hosts and that different pathogenetic mechanisms are operative during HCV and HBV infections.