Expression and clinical significance of interferon-inducible protein-10 in patients with HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of interferon inducible protein-10 (IP-10) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF), and its correlation with disease severity. Methods Eighty patients with HBV-ACLF, 60 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and 25 healthy controls were enrolled from the Affiliated Hospital of Hubei University of Arts and Science during October 2013 and February 2015. IP-10 mRNA in PBMC was measured by real time quantitative PCR. Independent sample t test was used to analyze the difference in IP-10 mRNA expression between HBV-ACLF patients with model for end-stage liver disease (MELD)<30 and ≥30, and Pearson correlation test was performed to analyze the correlations of IP-10 mRNA expression with alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin (TBil) and international normalized ratio (INR). Results The expressions of IP-10 mRNA in HBV-ACLF patients was 1.00±0.19, which was higher than those in CHB patients and healthy controls (0.64±0.08 and 0.41±0.06, t=3.841 and 16.661, all P<0.01). The expression of IP-10 mRNA in HBV-ACLF patients with MELD<30 was 0.96±0.19, which was lower than that in patients with MELD≥30 (1.14±0.21, t=-2.283, P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that IP-10 mRNA level in HBV-ACLF patients was positively correlated with ALT, TBil and INR (r=0.697, 0.738 and 0.775, all P<0.01). Conclusion IP-10 mRNA is over-expressed in PBMC of patients with HBV-ACLF, and it is correlated with disease severity, which suggests that IP-10 may play an important role in the progression of liver failure. Key words: Hepatitis B virus; Liver failure; T-lymphocytes, cytotoxic; Interferon-inducible protein-10