Sex Differences in Spontaneous Degranulation Activity of Intrahepatic Natural Killer Cells during Chronic Hepatitis B: Association with Estradiol Levels
Major sex differences are observed in the prevalence, intensity, and severity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Here, we investigated degranulation activity of circulating and intrahepatic natural killer (NK) cells from HBV and HCV chronically infected patients before any treatment (n=125). The...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Mediators of Inflammation |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/3214917 |
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| Summary: | Major sex differences are observed in the prevalence, intensity, and severity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Here, we investigated degranulation activity of circulating and intrahepatic natural killer (NK) cells from HBV and HCV chronically infected patients before any treatment (n=125). The frequency of CD107+ NK cells in the female liver was significantly higher compared to that in males during chronic HBV infection (p=0.002) and correlated with the plasma levels of estradiol (correlation coefficient r=0.634; p<0.0001). Our results clearly show sex differences in degranulation activity of intrahepatic NK cells of HBV-infected patients. This probably contributes to the ability of females to better deal with HBV disease. |
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| ISSN: | 0962-9351 1466-1861 |