TY - JOUR JF - Journal of Virology TI - Modulation of the CD8+-T-cell response by CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells in patients with Hepatitis B virus infection N2 - CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells have been shown to maintain peripheral tolerance against self and foreign antigens. In this study we analyzed the effect of circulating CD4+ CD25+ T cells on CD8+-T-cell responses of patients with chronic and resolved hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. We demonstrated that circulating CD4+ CD25+ T cells modulate the function and expansion of HBV-specific CD8+ cells ex vivo in all patients, regardless of whether they have chronic or resolved HBV infection. The possible role of CD4+ CD25+ T cells in the pathogenesis of chronic HBV infection is not supported by these data. However, these results might have implications for optimizing future immunotherapeutic approaches to HBV treatment. Y1 - 2005/03// UR - http://intl-jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/79/6/3322 KW - immunological self-tolerance KW - lamivudine treatment KW - antigen KW - activation KW - disease KW - damage KW - vivo IS - 6 SN - 0022-538x EP - 3328 SP - 3322 A1 - Franzese, O. A1 - Kennedy, P.T.F. A1 - Gehring, A.J. A1 - Gotto, J. A1 - Williams, R. A1 - Maini, M.K. A1 - Bertoletti, A. AV - public ID - discovery309 VL - 79 ER -