CD4+ T cell function of the patients in different states of HBV infection

Abstract

Objective To explore the functional differences of CD4 + T lymphocytes in patients with different states of HBV infection. Methods Collect healthy adults (HI), acute viral hepatitis (AHB), chronic HBV infection in immune tolerant phase(IT), and chronic hepatitis B in immune clearance phase(IC) patients with venous blood. Use flow cytometry to detect peripheral blood CD4+ T frequencies, the expression of surface molecule CD69, Th1 and Th2 subsets frequency and the ratio of Th1 / Th2. and analyze the difference in different states of HBV infection. Results Collect 12, 33, 30, 49 cases patients of HI, AHB, IT, IC respectively.The frequency of CD4+ T cells in the acute hepatitis B group(AHB, 39.99±8.00%)was significantly higher than that in the immune tolerance group(IT, 33.86±6.87%)and the immune clearance group(IC, 34.52±9.17%), (F=4.584, P=0.004), and there was no significant difference among the other groups(1.76±0.54, 1.57±0.59, 1.76±0.67, P>0.05). Acute hepatitis B group(25.56±9.01)increased significantly in CD69MFI than in the immune clearance group(21.66±3.38)and immune tolerance group(21.57±5.58), In acute hepatitis B, immune clearance, immune tolerance group and the group of healthy adults, the CD69 molecular absolute number decreased in turn(F=15.201, P=0.000). Conclusions The frequency of CD4+ T cells and the surface molecule CD69 in patients with acute hepatitis B were significantly higher than those in chronic HBV infection group; Th2 response was dominant in the CD4+ T cell response to HBV infection. Key words: Hepatitis B; hepatitis B virus; CD4+ T lymphocytes; immune tolerance phase; immune clearance phase