%0 Journal Article %A Hassuna, Noha A %A Abdel-Malek, Mohamed Ahmed Yehya %A Nasif Mohamed, Khalid Ali %A Medhat, Mohamed %A Partridge, Lynda J %T DAAs treatment is associated with up-regulation of CD81 on peripheral B-lymphocytes %D 2020 %J Access Microbiology, %V 2 %N 7A %@ 2516-8290 %C 484 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.ac2020.po0391 %I Microbiology Society, %X Cellular surface expression of CD81 (an essential co-receptor for HCV) is critical for successful HCV infection. Furthermore, CD81 cross-linking with HCV-E2 protein impedes activation signaling pathways in different lymphocytes (T-cells, B -cells and NK cells). The expression of CD81 on peripheral lymphocytes is known to be downregulated following successful dual anti-HCV therapy. On the other hands, no reports are yet available regarding its expression levels following the newly used treatment regimen in Egypt; direct-acting antivirals (DAAs): Sofosubvir & daclatsvir for three months. Thus, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the expression levels of CD81 on T and B lymphocytes in HCV-infected patients before and after successful treatment with DAAs. Cellular CD81 expression was measured on CD3+ (T lymphocytes) and CD19+ (B Lymphocytes) lymphocytes by flow cytometry from 19 patients with chronic HCV infection. All the HCV viruses were of genotype 4. We found no correlation between CD81 expression on either CD3+ or CD19+ lymphocytes and viral load. The expression of CD81 on CD19+ lymphocytes was markedly reduced at the end of the treatment. On the contrary, CD81 was significantly increased on CD3+ lymphocytes following successful treatment. Our data indicate that successful treatment of HCV infection is associated with a reduction in surface CD81 expression on B lymphocytes with a concomitant increase on T lymphocytes. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.ac2020.po0391