HBsAg and HBeAg inhibit cytokine production by pDC.

<p>pDC were cultured with CpG in the presence or absence of increasing doses or 5 µg/ml of HBcAg, HBeAg or HBsAg. Supernatants were harvested and analysed for IFNα (A), TNFα (B), IP-10 (C), IL-6 (D), and IL-8 (E). Data presented are mean±SEM of at least 8 independent experiments. *P<0.05, Wilcoxon signed rank test compared to control.