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The study included 40 patients with chronic Hepatitis C Virus infection whom researchers followed before, during and after treatment with these new medications to investigate impact on the composition and diversity of the immune system. Diversity is vital to the ability of the immune system to fight infections. Of particular importance are natural killer cells, a type of white blood cells. The researchers used flow cytometry and a new measurement method to derive the composition of the immune system, as well as the appearance of natural killer cells and their function in the blood.
“Researchers in the field previously focused on analysing individual components but were unable to draw any comprehensive conclusions,” says Niklas Björkström, who led the study. “The immune system is extraordinarily complex, incorporating a large number of interacting parts. We adapted new methods in order to assess and analyse that complexity in a fresh manner.”
The results showed that the overall composition of the immune system was affected by the chronic infection, with significantly reduced diversity among the natural killer cells. Many of the changes remained long after the virus had been eliminated by means of medication. Researchers have not yet determined the long-term implications but are currently exploring whether patients have a harder time fighting future infection.
Strunz et al: Chronic hepatitis C virus infection irreversibly impacts human NK cell repertoire diversity in Nature Communications - 2018
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