Monocyte derived dendritic cells retain their functional capacity in patients following infection with hepatitis C virus

Summary.  Studies assessing the function of monocyte derived dendritic cells (MD‐DC) in individuals with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have shown conflicting results. Impaired MD‐DC function in chronic HCV infection would have important implications both for understanding the pathogenesis of HCV infection and in the use of autologous MD‐DC in vaccination strategies. We determined the allostimulatory capacity of MD‐DC in the same patient before and after HCV infection. Next, the phenotype, cytokine production and allostimulatory function of immature and mature MD‐DC in individuals with persistent HCV infection were compared directly with MD‐DC from healthy individuals. Finally, we assessed the ability of MD‐DC to prime autologous naïve peptide specific CD8+ T cells using HLA‐A2 class‐I tetramers. DCs retained the same allostimulatory capacity before and following the establishment of persistent HCV infection. The surface phenotype and the amount of interleukin (IL)‐10 and IL‐12(p70) produced during DC maturation did not differ between HCV‐infected individuals and healthy controls. Mature DCs from HCV‐infected individuals performed comparably in an allogeneic MLR compared with healthy individuals. Mature MD‐DC from HCV‐infected individuals stimulated the expansion of peptide specific naïve CD8+ T cells. MD‐DC from HCV‐infected and healthy individuals are phenotypically indistinguishable and perform comparably in functional assays.