Programmed death-1 expression on the peripheral T lymphocytes and the cytokine levels in different phases of patients with hepatitis B virus infection / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the expression of programmed death 1(PD-1) on the peripheral T lymphocytes and the serum cytokine levels in different phases of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (immune tolerance,immune clearance and non-replicating phases).Methods A total of 105 HBV infected patients in different phases of infection were enrolled in Wuxi No.5 People's Hospital from Apr to Sep 2011,and divided into three groups:the immune tolerance group (35 cases),the immune clearance group (35 cases) and the non-replicating group (35 cases).Meanwhile,20 healthy people were enrolled as controls.The peripheral blood was collected and PD-1 expressions on the surface of T lymphocytes were assessed by flow cytometry.The cytokine levels in different groups were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The data were analyzed by t test and Pearson correlation analysis.Results The PD-1 expression on surface of CD8+ T lymphocytes of HBV infected patients was (12.35± 3.48)％,which was significantly higher than healthy control group [(4.65±1.21) ％] (t=9.76,P＜0.01).The PD-1 expression on CD4+ T lymphocytes was (4.95±2.87) ％,which was not significantly different from the healthy controls [(4.08±2.14) ％] (t =1.29,P＞0.05).The PD-1 expressions on CD8+ T lymphocytes of patients in the immune tolerance group,the immune clearance group and the non-replicating group were (15.87±3.18)％,(7.69±3.64)％and (10.12±2.84) ％,respectively; that in the immune tolerance group was higher than the immune clearance group (t=10.01,P＜0.01) and that in healthy control group was lower than those in the other 3 groups (t=15.12,3.61 and 8.17,respectively; all P＜0.01).The PD-1 expression on the surface of CD8+ T lymphocytes in chronic HBV infected patients was positively correlated with the serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) level (γ=0.377,P＜0.05),while that was negatively correlated with interferon-γ (IFN-γ) level (r=-0.620,P＜0.05).Conclusions PD-1 is up-regulated on the surface of CD8+ T lymphocytes from chronic HBV infected patients.And PD-1 is negatively correlated with serum IFN-γ levels and positively correlated with serum IL-10 levels.The expression of PD-1 on the surface of CD8+ T lymphocytes influences the balance of helper T cell (Th)1/Th2,which might play a role in the persistence of HBV infection.