Analysis of intrahepatic lymphocyte subsets in a transgenic mouse model of immune-mediated hepatocarcinogenesis.

Long-term, persistent liver cell injury increases the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in chronic viral hepatitis. In support of this notion, we have developed a unique animal model of chronic immune-mediated liver disease that induces hepatocellular carcinogenesis using HBV transgenic mice; however, the intrahepatic inflammatory response was not precisely evaluated. The current study demonstrated that hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) were detected at a frequency of 0.05% of CD8+ T lymphocytes in the liver, and that monocytes/macrophages were remarkably increased as the disease developed. These results suggest that a minimal number of intrahepatic virus-specific CTLs and the recruited monocytes/macrophages may contribute to the process of chronic liver inflammation.