The HLA class II-restricted T-cell response to hepatitis C virus (HCV) antigens is believed to
influence the final outcome of hepatitis C, because it is vigorous in patients who recover from
acute hepatitis C, but it is weak in those who develop a chronic infection. For this reason,
exogenous stimulation of T-cell responses in chronic HCV infection may represent a strategy
to cure patients with chronic hepatitis C by approximating the vigor of their T-cell reactivity to
that of patients who succeed in recovering from hepatitis. It may also be a preventive …