Viral escape mutations in HLA-B*27-restricted epitopes correlate with a chronic hepatitis delta virus infection.. Hepatitis delta virus

Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection affects millions of people worldwide. Only a very few number of patients are able to clear the virus. Possibly, T cells mediate viral clearance in patients. Here, we investigated the role of CD8 T cells in hepatitis D and how they fail in eliminating HDV. We identified two HLA-B*27-restricted HDV epitopes and the respective T-cell responses in patients with resolved infection. However, in patients with chronic HDV infection, we detected escape mutations within the identified epitopes which could lead to viral evasion from CD8+ T-cell responses and persistence of the virus. These results have important implications for the clinical prognosis of HDV infection and for the development of vaccines against HDV.