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Originally published online as doi:10.1189/jlb.1208772 on April 24, 2009

Published online before print April 24, 2009
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(Journal of Leukocyte Biology. 2009;86:33-39.)
© 2009 Society for Leukocyte Biology

Immune-based therapy for chronic hepatitis C

Dong-Yeop Chang and Eui-Cheol Shin1

Laboratory of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea

1. Correspondence: Laboratory of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, 335 Gwahangno, Daejeon, Korea 305-701. E-mail: ecshin{at}kaist.ac.kr

Chronic, persistent HCV infection is a public health issue. It often progresses to life-threatening complications, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The current standard therapy is a combination of pegylated IFN-{alpha} and ribavirin. This therapy results in a sustained virologic response in only 50% of patients infected with HCV genotype 1 and is often accompanied with substantial side-effects. Therefore, it is imperative to develop novel therapies with higher efficacy and less substantial side-effects. Impaired immune responses to HCV are key features of chronic HCV infection; thus, intervention strategies typically involve boosting the immune responses against HCV. These immune-based therapies for chronic HCV infection include therapeutic vaccines, antagonists of T cell inhibitory factors, anti-HCV neutralizing antibodies, cytokines, and agonists for TLRs. Currently, various types of immune-based therapies are under development that might be used as a monotherapy or in combination with other antiviral drugs for the treatment of chronic HCV infection.

Key Words: HCV • immunotherapy • T cell • cytokine