New Window Into Hepatitis B in Africa: Liver Sampling Combined With Single-Cell Omics Enables Deep and Longitudinal Assessment of Intrahepatic Immunity in Zambia

2024/02/09 by Taonga Musonda, Michael S. Wallace, Michael S Wallace +18 · 2 citations
Medicine · #Hepatitis B Virus Studies #Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment #Hepatitis C virus research

paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/infdis/jiae054

Abstract

In Lusaka, Zambia, we introduced liver fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) into a research cohort of adults with treatment-naive chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, with and without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection, as well as with acute HBV infection. From 117 enrollment and 47 longitudinal FNABs (at 1-year follow-up), we established participant acceptability and safety. We also demonstrated the quality of the material through single-cell RNA sequencing of selected enrollment FNAs, which revealed a range of immune cells. This approach can drive new insights into HBV immunology, informing cure strategies, and can improve our understanding of HBV natural history in Africa.

Cited by

• [Revealing research progress for immunological characteristics of chronic hepatitis B applying single-cell RNA sequencing technology]. [europepmc]
• Novel and less invasive biomarker assays to measure liver ATP7B in Wilson disease patients. [europepmc]

Related

• Molecular Analysis of HBV in Histologically Confirmed Hepatocellular Carcinoma in a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana
• Eligibility for hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatment and prevalence of drug resistance in a Ugandan population cohort
• Circulating Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) RNA and Conventional Markers in Treatment-Naive Persons With HBV in Senegal
• Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Infection in Nigeria: A National Survey
• A putative hepatitis B virus sequence motif associated with hepatocellular carcinoma in South African adults