Hepatitis

In autoimmune disease, a misguided immune system recognises its own tissue as a foreign pathogen and launches a relentless attack to eliminate the threat (i.e. an overactive immune system). In viral liver disease, an ineffective immune system fails to clear the virus, which leads to persistent infection for life. Studies have shown that Treg cells can impact the progression of both disease processes. So how does the liver regulate the regulators (Treg cells)?

Dr Stamataki’s team have identified a new process that may answer this question. “We recently discovered that the main cells that make up 80 per cent of the liver, hepatocytes, actively engulf T-reg cells and destroy them. We called this new phenomenon enclysis, from the Greek word for enclosure, confinement and captivity. Indeed, we found increased enclysis in AIH compared to hepatitis B livers donated to research after transplantation. It is therefore possible that toggling enclysis may help improve both disease outcomes, and we have planned a series of experiments to test this hypothesis using human liver tissues.”

Researchers are exploring two clinical approaches aimed at restoring balance in the immune system: one where protective T-reg cells are isolated from AIH patients, expanded in the lab and injected back into patients, with the hope of dampening inflammation; and the other where immune cells are isolated from viral patients, activated and injected back into patients to fight the virus. Dr Stamataki’s study will focus on understanding how to improve and prolong the effectiveness of these immunotherapies for patient benefit.