In most cases infection with hepatitis C results in chronic infection as a consequence of viral subversion and failed anti-viral immune responses. The suggestion that dendritic cells are defective in chronic HCV infection led us to investigate the phenotype and function of liver-derived myeloid (mDC) and plasmacytoid (pDC) dendritic cells in patients with chronic HCV infection.
Liver Research Group, Institute of Biomedical Research, The University of Birmingham Medical School, Wolfson Drive, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. w.k.lai@bham.ac.uk