Fig. 2.

Increased allostimulatory capacity of circulating dendritic cells (DCs) from patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) due to antiviral therapy. Circulating DCs were isolated from patients with CHC before the start of therapy and four weeks after the start of antiviral therapy. Levels of incorporation of [³H]-thymidine (in cpm) reflected the levels of blastogenesis in allogenic mixed leucocyte reaction (MLR) containing T cells (2 × 10⁵) from normal volunteer and circulating DCs from patients with CHC (1 × 10⁴). The levels of blastogenesis in cultures containing DCs from patients with HCV before antiviral therapy (DCs from HCV RNA⁺ patients) are shown as black bars. The levels of blastogenesis in allogenic MLR containing DCs from the same patient, 4 weeks after the start of antiviral therapy (DCs from HCV RNA^– patients) are shown by clear bars.