Analysis of T cell receptor variable regions and complementarity determining region 3 of infiltrating T lymphocytes in the liver of patients with chronic type B hepatitis.

Objective: T cell receptor (TCR) variable regions and complementarity determining regions 3 (CDR3) of infiltrating T cells in the livers of patients with chronic hepatitis B were examined in detail.

Methods: TCR usage was examined by the inverse polymerase chain reaction in 2 hepatitis B e antigen-positive patients, one at an early stage and the other at an advanced stage.

Results: In 61 productively rearranged clones bearing TCRalpha genes in the liver of the patient with early stage chronic hepatitis B, the Valpha 7.2 gene segment was most frequently used (16.4%), while the other Valpha gene segments were used less frequently. All but one of the clones with the Valpha7.2 gene were joined with the Jalpha33 gene, and the CDR3 regions of these clones were the same length and similar in amino acid sequence. In contrast, in 68 productively rearranged clones from the liver of the patient with advanced stage disease, all Valpha gene segments were used less frequently, and combinations of the Valpha and Jalpha gene segments varied.

Conclusions: Our data suggest a relatively restricted usage of TCR in the liver in early stage chronic hepatitis B.