Fig. 1: HCV-neutralizing activity declines after cure of chronic hepatitis C.
From: Serum neutralization activity declines but memory B cells persist after cure of chronic hepatitis C
Neutralizing activity of sera from patients with chronic HCV genotype 1, 2, or 3 infections. Neutralization was tested against cell culture-produced hepatitis C viruses (HCVcc) with JFH1 backbone and core-NS2 sequences of H77S (genotype 1a), J4 (genotype 1b), JFH1 (genotype 2a), and SA13 (genotype 5a) sequence. a NAb50 (50% neutralizing activity) is shown for sera from all patients (n = 24), or stratified by chronic HCV genotype 1 (n = 12), genotype 2 (n = 6) or genotype 3 infection (n = 6). Each symbol represents a patient; error bars show median + IQR. Two-sided p values are shown and were calculated using a linear mixed model based on the log-transformation of the outcome measurement with Tukey–Kramer procedure as a post hoc test was performed. The upper line of the shaded area represents the threshold of quantitation (NAb50 = 75). b, c NAb50 of serial serum samples of patients. Neutralization was tested against HCVcc with H77S/JFH1, J4/JFH1, JFH1, and SA13/JFH1 sequences and normalized to the baseline (chronic HCV infection prior to treatment, t = 0) value. The half-life (T1/2) of NAb50 was calculated using a simple linear model of exponential decay, with the dependent variable normalized for each patient’s baseline value. Normalized NAb50 values that were predicted by mathematical modeling (see methods section) are shown as red dots. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. b Each data point represents the NAb50 of a serum sample obtained at the indicated time after interferon-alpha-based cure of chronic HCV infection. Twenty-seven (n = 27) serum samples were tested for neutralization of H77S/JFH1 HCVcc; n = 60 serum samples tested for neutralization of J4/JFH1 HCVcc; n = 68 serum samples tested for neutralization of JFH1 HCVcc and n = 71 serum samples tested for neutralization of SA13/JFH1 HCVcc. c Each data point represents the NAb50 of a serum sample obtained at the indicated time after direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy with n = 7 serum samples tested for neutralization of H77S/JFH1 HCVcc; n = 9 serum samples tested for neutralization of J4/JFH1 HCVcc; n = 13 serum samples tested for neutralization of JFH1 HCVcc and n = 13 serum samples tested for neutralization of SA13/JFH1 HCVcc.
