Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. Lunemann.Sebastian @ mh-hannover.de
Dig Dis. 2012;30 Suppl 1:48-54. doi: 10.1159/000341680. Epub 2012 Oct 11.
Hepatitis C is caused by infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), a single-stranded RNA virus, which was first described in 1989. Hepatitis C is a major global health burden with approximately 150 million people chronically infected worldwide. Chronic HCV infection is a main cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current treatment of hepatitis C is based on the administration of peg-IFN-α and ribavirin. However, this therapy can be associated with severe side effects. The role of NK cells in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic liver disease in HCV infection has only been studied in recent years, but those studies indicate an important role for this cell type. NK cells are a major component of the innate arm of the immune system. We summarize the current knowledge on NK cell phenotype and function in acute and chronic HCV infection. Moreover, we discuss the role of NK cells in IFN-α-based antiviral therapy. Understanding the mode of function and role of NK cells during HCV infection and therapy will become even more important in the near future, when new IFN-α-free treatment regimens become available.
丙型肝炎是由丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染引起的，HCV 是一种单链 RNA 病毒，于 1989 年首次被描述。丙型肝炎是一个全球性的重大健康负担，全球约有 1.5 亿人慢性感染丙型肝炎。慢性 HCV 感染是导致肝硬化和肝细胞癌的主要原因。目前丙型肝炎的治疗基于聚乙二醇干扰素-α和利巴韦林的应用。然而，这种治疗可能会引起严重的副作用。近年来，人们才开始研究自然杀伤（NK）细胞在 HCV 感染引起的急性和慢性肝病发病机制中的作用，但这些研究表明 NK 细胞在其中起着重要作用。NK 细胞是先天免疫系统的主要组成部分。我们总结了 NK 细胞表型和功能在急性和慢性丙型肝炎感染中的最新知识。此外，我们还讨论了 NK 细胞在基于干扰素-α的抗病毒治疗中的作用。在不久的将来，当出现新的无干扰素-α治疗方案时，了解 NK 细胞在 HCV 感染和治疗过程中的作用模式和作用将变得更加重要。
