Epigenetic scars in regulatory T cells are retained after successful treatment of chronic hepatitis C with direct-acting antivirals

Background & aims: Chronic HCV infection results in abnormal immunological alterations, which are not fully normalized after viral elimination by direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment. Herein, we longitudinally examined phenotypic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic alterations in peripheral blood regulatory T (Treg) cells from patients with chronic HCV infection before, during, and after DAA treatment.

Methods: Patients with chronic genotype 1b HCV infection who achieved sustained virologic response by DAA treatment and age-matched healthy donors were recruited. Phenotypic characteristics of Treg cells were investigated through flow cytometry analysis. Moreover, the transcriptomic and epigenetic landscapes of Treg cells were analyzed using RNA sequencing and ATAC-seq (assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing) analysis.

Results: The Treg cell population - especially the activated Treg cell subpopulation - was expanded in peripheral blood during chronic HCV infection, and this expansion was sustained even after viral clearance. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that viral clearance did not abrogate the inflammatory features of these Treg cells, such as Treg activation and TNF signaling. Moreover, ATAC-seq analysis showed inflammatory imprinting in the epigenetic landscape of Treg cells from patients, which remained after treatment. These findings were further confirmed by intracellular cytokine staining, demonstrating that Treg cells exhibited inflammatory features and TNF production in chronic HCV infection that were maintained after viral clearance.

Conclusions: Overall, our results showed that during chronic HCV infection, the expanded Treg cell population acquired inflammatory features at phenotypic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic levels, which were maintained even after successful viral elimination by DAA treatment. Further studies are warranted to examine the clinical significance of sustained inflammatory features in the Treg cell population after recovery from chronic HCV infection.

Impact and implications: During chronic HCV infection, several immune components are altered both quantitatively and qualitatively. The recent introduction of direct-acting antivirals has led to high cure rates. Nevertheless, we have demonstrated that inflammatory features of Treg cells are maintained at phenotypic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic levels even after successful DAA treatment. Further in-depth studies are required to investigate the long-term clinical outcomes of patients who have recovered from chronic HCV infection.