caa a22 4500 475765737 CHVBK 20180406123604.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170329e20000601xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s007050070111 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s007050070111 Hepatocytes of double-transgenic mice expressing high levels of hepatitis B virus e antigen and interferon-γ are not injured by HBeAg specific autoantibodies [Elektronische Daten] [H. Merkle, P. Nusser, S. Knehr, J. Löhler, J. Barsig, K.-I. Yamamura, K. Reifenberg] Summary.:  Seroconversion from HBeAg to αHBe of persons chronically infected by HBV is usually associated with a transient exacerbation of liver disease and subsequent normalization of liver histology. It is speculated that these clinicopathological features may be due to the activation of cytodestructive mechanisms by αHBe antibodies. The aim of the present study was to investigate the pathogenic potential of αHBe antibodies in a transgenic mouse model. Therefore, αHBe autoantibodies were elicited in double-transgenic mice expressing high amounts of HBeAg and interferon-γ in the liver. Interferon-γ has previously been shown to play an important role in the development of hepatic necroinflammation associated with hepadnaviral infection, probably via tumor-necrosis-factor-α secreted by activated macrophages. We found no evidence that αHBe antibodies have the potential to destroy HBeAg-secreting hepatocytes even if the cells were predisposed to injury due to high-level interferon-γ expression. We conclude that seroconversion from HBeAg to αHBe of persons chronically infected with HBV seems to be an immunological epiphenomenon without pathogenic significance. Springer-Verlag/Wien, 2000 Merkle H. Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, DE aut Nusser P. Laboratory Animal Research Unit, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, DE aut Knehr S. Laboratory Animal Research Unit, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, DE aut Löhler J. Heinrich Pette Institute for Experimental Virology and Immunology, Hamburg, Germany, DE aut Barsig J. Department Immunology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, DE aut Yamamura K.-I Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics, Kumamoto, Japan, JP aut Reifenberg K. Central Laboratory Animal Facility, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany, DE aut https://doi.org/10.1007/s007050070111 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s007050070111 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Merkle H. Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, DE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Nusser P. Laboratory Animal Research Unit, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, DE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Knehr S. Laboratory Animal Research Unit, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, DE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Löhler J. Heinrich Pette Institute for Experimental Virology and Immunology, Hamburg, Germany, DE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Barsig J. Department Immunology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, DE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Yamamura K.-I Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics, Kumamoto, Japan, JP aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Reifenberg K. Central Laboratory Animal Facility, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany, DE aut Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer