Prospective analysis of effector and regulatory CD4+ T cells in chronic HCV patients undergoing combination antiviral therapy

A contraction of HCV-specific CD4+ T cell responses was found during treatment with recovery of responses in patients experiencing virologic relapse after treatment. The levels of FoxP3-expressing regulatory T cells did not vary by race and were not predictive of virologic outcome. Work is ongoing to explore the contribution of mechanisms independent of CD4+ T cells in therapy-induced viral clearance.