AUTHOR=Zheng Peiyu , Dou Yongqing , Wang Qinying 

TITLE=Immune response and treatment targets of chronic hepatitis B virus infection: innate and adaptive immunity

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1206720

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2023.1206720

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=Chronic hepatitis B viral (HBV) infection is a major global public health risk that threatens human life and health ,although reaching and vaccinating people have increased. The clinical outcome of HBV infection depends on the complex interplay between viral replication and the host’s immune response. Innate immunity plays an important role in the early stages of the disease but retains no long-term immune memory. However, HBV, through stealth, evades detection by the host’s innate immune system. Therefore, adaptive immunity involving T and B cells is crucial for controlling and clearing HBV infection, which leads to liver inflammation and damage. Persistence of HBV leads to immune tolerance owing to immune cell dysfunction, T cell exhaustion, and an increase in suppressor cells and cytokines. Although significant progress has been made in HBV treatment in recent years, the balance between immune tolerance, immune activation, inflammation, and fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B is still unknown, making a functional cure difficult to achieve. Therefore, this review focused on the important cells involved in the innate and adaptive immunity of chronic hepatitis B to target the host immune system and identify treatment strategies.