The adaptive immune response is thought to be responsible for viral clearance and disease
pathogenesis during hepatitis B virus infection. It is generally acknowledged that the
humoral antibody response contributes to the clearance of circulating virus particles and the
prevention of viral spread within the host while the cellular immune response eliminates
infected cells. The T cell response to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is vigorous, polyclonal and
multispecific in acutely infected patients who successfully clear the virus and relatively weak …