Erythrocyte binding preferences and receptor specificities of influenza virus

Abstract

Background: Chronic hepatitis B infection (CHBI) is known to be associated with dysfunction of cellmediated immunity. However, little is known about the changes of immune response during CHBI, particularly the correlation between alterations of peripheral immune cell populations with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) status. Our goal is to look into the alteration of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) including B lymphocytes, NK cells and T cells subsets in patients with (CHBI) and to elucidate their correlation with the level of HBsAg (qHBsAg) and HBeAg status. Methods & Materials: The immunophenotype profile of PBLs in 50 CHB patients and 20 age and sex matched healthy donors were analysed by flowcytometry (FCM). The profile of T cell subsets in patientswas also analysed based on the presence or absence of HBeAg and on the quantitation of HBsAg. Serum HBsAg was quantified by Elecsys assay (Roche Diagnostics, Germany). Results: Significant alteration in PBL percentage of the T lymphocytes subset were found in patients as compared to healthy controls showing reduction inbothCD4+andCD8+ cells (p <0.001) as well as reduction in CD4+ /CD8+ ratio (p <0.01). Meanwhile, there were no significant changes in other PBLs (Total T, B, and NK cells). There was no significant alteration in the percentage of T lymphocytes between HBeAg positive and HBeAg negative patients.However, an important correlationwasobservedbetween HBsAg level and the percentage of T andNK cells (r = 0.366; p<0.01, r = 0.462; p<0.01 respectively). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that there is evidence of alteration in the immunological response in chronic hepatitis B infection, reflected in the significant changes in the peripheral blood lymphocyte population subsets and serum HBsAg levels, which may affect the progression of the disease process in these patients.