Casella, Valentina, 1991-Cebollada Rica, PaulaArgilaguet Marqués, Jordi, 1977-Vidal Barba, EnricGonzález Cao, MaríaGüerri Fernández, RobertoBocharov, Gennady A.Meyerhans, Andreas2024-06-122024-06-122024Casella V, Cebollada Rica P, Argilaguet J, Vidal E, González-Cao M, Güerri-Fernandez R, et al. Anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy of chronic virus infection improves virus control without augmenting tissue damage by fibrosis. Viruses. 2024 May 17;16(5):799. DOI: 10.3390/v160507991999-4915http://hdl.handle.net/10230/60447Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors, albeit commonly used against tumors, is still at its infancy against chronic virus infections. It relies on the reinvigoration of exhausted T lymphocytes to eliminate virus-infected cells. Since T cell exhaustion is a physiological process to reduce immunopathology, the reinvigoration of these cells might be associated with an augmentation of pathological changes. To test this possibility, we here analyzed in the model system of chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV)-infected mice whether treatment with the checkpoint inhibitor anti-PD-L1 antibody would increase CD8 T cell-dependent fibrosis. We show that pre-existing spleen fibrosis did not worsen under conditions that increase CD8 T cell functionality and reduce virus loads suggesting that the CD8 T cell functionality increase remained below its pathogenicity threshold. These promising findings should further encourage immunotherapeutic trials against chronic virus infections.application/pdfeng© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v16050799LCMVAnti-PD-L1Chronic virus infectionFibrosisImmunotherapyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess