Immunopathogenesis of Hepatitis E Virus Infection

Heiner Wedemeyer; Jolanta Rybczynska; Sven Pischke; Kris Krawczynski

doi:10.1055/s-0033-1338118

Seminars in Liver Disease, Table of Contents

Semin Liver Dis 2013; 33(01): 071-078
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1338118

Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Immunopathogenesis of Hepatitis E Virus Infection

Authors

Heiner Wedemeyer

¹Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
Jolanta Rybczynska

²Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia

³Department of Pathology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Sven Pischke

¹Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
Kris Krawczynski

²Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia

Abstract

The course of hepatitis E virus infection (HEV) can vary substantially between different individuals. Although most infections take a clinically silent asymptomatic course, a few patients may develop severe hepatitis that can progress to fulminant hepatic failure. In addition, cases of chronic hepatitis E have been described in immunosuppressed patients. The detailed mechanisms leading to different clinical outcomes of HEV infection are only partially understood. Both viral factors including the HEV genotype and the dose of the infectious inoculum, as well as host factors such as stage of liver disease, pregnancy or distinct genetic polymorphisms determine the course of HEV infection. Recent studies were able to associate T-cell responses, activation of the interferon system and viral evolution with severity or chronicity of hepatitis E. We here summarize the emerging data on the immunopathogenesis of HEV infection.

Keywords

hepatitis E virus - HEV - T-cell responses - humoral immunity - animal models

Full Text

References

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