Mediators of Inflammation (Jan 2015)

The Sterile Inflammation in the Exacerbation of HBV-Associated Liver Injury

  • Qiao Yang,
  • Yu Shi,
  • Ying Yang,
  • Guohua Lou,
  • Zhi Chen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/508681
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2015

Abstract

Read online

Exacerbation of hepatitis B virus-associated liver injury is characterized by abnormal immune response which not only mobilizes specific antiviral effects but also poses a potentially lethal nonspecific sterile inflammation to the host. How nonspecific sterile inflammation is triggered after the preexisting injury caused by specific immune injury remains elusive. In the setting of sterile inflammation, endogenous damage-associated molecular patterns are released by stressed and dying hepatocytes, which alarm the immune system through their potential pattern recognition receptors and related signaling pathways, orchestrate the influx of diverse cytokines, and ultimately amplify liver destruction. This review highlights current knowledge about the sterile hepatic inflammation in the exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B.