ABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the correlation of the expression of lymphocyte immunoglobulin-mucin domain 3 (Tim-3) on T lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells with hepatic inflammation and hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.Methods:A total of 320 patients of chronic HBV infection who visited the Infectious Diseases Department in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from June 2016 to June 2018 were enrolled. The patients were divided into four groups: immune tolerant group (IT, n=31), immune active group (IA, n=184), inactive carriers group (IC, n=48), and gray zone group (GZ, n=57). And 17 healthy controls (HC group) were included at the same time. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were separated and the frequency and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of Tim-3 on T cells (CD3 + , CD4 + and CD8 + T cells) and NK cells (NK, NK-bright and NK-dim cells) were detected by flow cytometry. The clinical data of patients were collected and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) score was calculated. Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparing the data of non-normal distribution among groups, and Mann Whitney U test was used for the comparison between two groups. Enumeration data were expressed as cases (percentage) and compared by the Chi-square test. Spearman rank correlation was used for correlation analysis. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to analyze the predictive value of Tim-3 expression on T cells and NK cells in evaluating liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV infection. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:Significant differences were found in the age, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), albumin (Alb), total bilirubin (TBil) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) among IT, IA, IC, GZ and HC groups ( H=12.40, 169.70, 210.70, 25.17, 24.21 and 86.5, all P<0.05). And the differences in APRI score, proportion of HBeAg-positive patients, HBsAg and HBV-DNA among the IT group, IA group, IC group, GZ group were also significant ( H=89.45, 118.00 and 14.81, χ2=148.20, all P<0.05). The frequency and MFI of Tim-3 on CD3 + , CD4 + and CD8 + T cells, NK cells, NK-bright and NK-dim cells among the IT group, IA group, IC group, GZ group and the HC group were significantly different( H=13.57, 51.55, 8.58, 44.25, 20.32, 47.96 and 12.45, 33.69, 4.96, 32.47, 10.63, 30.46, all P<0.05). Both of the frequency and MFI of Tim-3 on CD3 + , CD4 + and CD8 + T cells were positively correlated with ALT and AST levels in patients with chronic HBV infection ( r=0.2134, 0.4733, 0.2090, 0.4333, 0.1771, 0.4417, 0.1780, 0.3956, 0.2618, 0.4671, 0.2614 and 0.4326, all P<0.05). While the frequency and MFI of Tim-3 on CD8 + T cells and MFI on CD3 + and CD4 + T cells were also positively correlated with TBil levels ( r=0.1342, 0.2635, 0.2739 and 0.2526, all P< 0.05). The frequency and MFI of Tim-3 on NK and NK-dim cells were negatively correlated with the levels of ALT, AST and TBil ( r=-0.2671, -0.4093, -0.2451, -0.4099, -0.1807, -0.1823, -0.2733, -0.4224, -0.2576, -0.4206, -0.1798 and -0.1946, all P<0.05). The MFI of Tim-3 on NK-bright cells was also negatively correlated with ALT, AST and TBil ( r=-0.3775, -0.3562 and -0.1633, all P<0.05). Both of the frequency and MFI of Tim-3 on CD3 + , CD4 + and CD8 + T cells were positively correlated with liver fibrosis( r=0.1789, 0.3896, 0.1518, 0.3521, 0.2117 and 0.3579, all P<0.05). Both of the frequency and MFI of Tim-3 on CD4 + and CD8 + T cells and the MFI of Tim-3 on CD3 + T cells were positively correlated with APRI score ( r=0.1487, 0.2604, 0.2296, 0.4858 and 0.2853, all P<0.05). The expression frequency and MFI of Tim-3 on NK and NK-dim cells and MFI of Tim-3 on NK-bright cells were negatively correlated with LSM ( r=-0.2686, -0.3975, -0.2852, -0.3991 and -0.3531, all P<0.05). The expression frequency and MFI of Tim-3 on NK and NK-dim cells and MFI of Tim-3 on NK-bright were negatively correlated with APRI score ( r=-0.3589, -0.4158, -0.3591, -0.4108 and -0.3966, all P<0.05). The ratio of Tim-3 expression on CD3 + T cells to that on NK cells was shown to be able to predict liver fibrosis in chronic HBV infected patients and the area under the ROC curve was 0.783 (95% CI: 0.723~0.843, P< 0.05), and when the cut-off value was 0.612, the sensitivity was 61.9%, and the specificity was 99.3%. Conclusion:The relationship of Tim-3 expression on T cells with liver inflammation and fibrosis is opposite to that on NK cells in patients with chronic HBV infection, indicating that the ratio of Tim-3 expression on T cells to that on NK cells may be valuable in evaluating liver fibrosis in patients.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the expression of syntaxin 8(STX8)in glioma and its clinical signif-icance. Methods Specimens of glioma were collected from 57 patients at Beijing Renhe Hospital from May 2013 to December 2015. 57 pieces of glioma tissue were used as a study group ,12 of which were Ⅰ+ Ⅱ(low grade) and the rest 45 were Ⅲ+Ⅳ;normal brain tissues from 15 individuals were used as a control group. Real-time PCR,immunohistochemistry,and Western blot were used to detect expression of STX8. Results As compared with the normal brain tissue ,the mRNA expression of STX8 was significantly increased in glioma tissue ,with a relative expression volume of 1.6855 ± 0.07124 in low grade and 2.8207 ± 0.0692 in high grade tissues,there was significant differences between the two groups;and the difference was also significant as compared with the control group(P < 0.05). The results of immunohistochemistry showed that the expression of STX8 was higher in glioma tissue than in normal tissue. Western Blot showed that the expression of STX8 protein was significantly higher in glioma than in normal tissue(P<0.05);the relative expression volume of STX8 was 2.271 ± 0.1621 in low grade tissue and 4.937 ± 0.1851 in high grade tissue,with a significant difference between the two groups;the difference was also significant as compared with the control group(P<0.05). The correlation analysis showed that higher STX8 expression in glioma was not significantly related to gender,age and pathological types,but there was a significant difference between pathological stages. Conclusion STX8 has abnormal high expression in glioma,which may be closely related with the occurrence and development of glioma.