Interleukin-18 (IL-18) inhibits replication of hepatitis B virus in transgenic mice, researchers report in the November issue of Journal of Virology.
Dr. Francis V. Chisari of The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California and colleagues note that IL-18 stimulates natural killer cells, natural killer T cells and T cells to secrete gamma interferon, an agent previously shown to inhibit HBV replication.
To investigate further, the researchers studied HBV transgenic mice, animals in which HBV replicates at high levels in the liver and kidney without evidence of cytopathology.
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