Effector CD8(+) T cell-derived interleukin-10 enhances acute liver immunopathology

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Besides secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and effector molecules, effector CD8(+) T cells that arise upon acute infection with certain viruses have been shown to produce the regulatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 and, therefore, contain immunopathology. Whether the same occurs during acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and role that IL-10 might play in liver disease is currently unknown. METHODS: Mouse models of acute HBV pathogenesis, as well as chimpanzees and patients acutely infected with HBV, were used to analyse the role of CD8(+) T cell-derived IL-10 in liver immunopathology. RESULTS: Mouse HBV-specific effector CD8(+) T cells produce significant amounts of IL-10 upon in vivo antigen encounter. This is corroborated by longitudinal data in a chimpanzee acutely infected with HBV, where serum IL-10 was readily detectable and correlated with intrahepatic CD8(+) T cell infiltration and liver disease severity. Unexpectedly, mouse and human CD8(+) T cell-derived IL-10 was found to act in an autocrine/paracrine fashion to enhance IL-2 responsiveness, thus preventing antigen-induced HBV-specific effector CD8(+) T cell apoptosis. Accordingly, the use of mouse models of HBV pathogenesis revealed that the IL-10 produced by effector CD8(+) T cells promoted their own intrahepatic survival and, thus supported, rather than suppressed liver immunopathology. CONCLUSION: Effector CD8(+) T cell-derived IL-10 enhances acute liver immunopathology. Altogether, these results extend our understanding of the cell- and tissue-specific role that IL-10 exerts in immune regulation. Lay summary: Interleukin-10 is mostly regarded as an immunosuppressive cytokine. We show here that HBV-specific CD8(+) T cells produce IL-10 upon antigen recognition and that this cytokine enhances CD8(+) T cell survival. As such, IL-10 paradoxically promotes rather than suppresses liver disease.