Enhanced host immune responses in presence of HCV facilitate HBV clearance in coinfection

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)/Hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection is frequently observed because of the common infection routine. Despite the reciprocal inhibition exerted by HBV and HCV genomes, the coinfection of HBV and HCV is associated with more severe forms of liver diseases. However, the complexity of viral interference and underlying pathological mechanism is still unclarified. With the demonstration of absence of direct viral interplay, some in vitro studies suggest the indirect effects of viral-host interaction on viral dominance outcome. Here, we comprehensively investigated the viral replication and host immune responses which might mediate the interference between viruses in HBV/HCV coinfected Huh7-NTCP cells and immunocompetent HCV human receptors transgenic ICR mice. We found that presence of HCV significantly inhibited HBV replication in vitro and in vivo irrespective of the coinfection order, while HBV did not affect HCV replication. Pathological alteration was coincidently reproduced in coinfected mice. In addition to the participation of innate immune response, an involvement of HCV in up-regulating HBV-specific immune responses was described to facilitate HBV clearance. Our systems partially recapitulate HBV/HCV coinfection and unveil the uncharacterized adaptive anti-viral immune responses during coinfection, which renews the knowledge on the nature of indirect viral interaction during HBV/HCV coinfection.

Automated summary

HBV/HCV coinfection is associated with more severe forms of liver diseases, and HCV significantly inhibits HBV replication. Pathological alteration and upregulation of HBV-specific immune responses were observed in coinfection.