Expression of Toll-like receptor 3 on the peripheral blood dendritic cells after stimulated by poly I: C in patients with chronic hepatitis B / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To elucidate the expression of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) on dendritic cells(DCs) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and to explore the correlation between hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistent infection and TLR3 expression. Methods Sixty CHB patients (CHB group) and 20 healthy controls (control group) were enrolled. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and CD14~+ monocytes were sorted by immunomagnetic beads. Immature DCs (imDC) were induced and proliferated in vitro and mature DCs (mDC) were obtained after the poly IC stimulation. The expression of intracellular TLR3 mRNA was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and surface markers [CD80 and human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DR] were determined by flow cytometry after 48 h of stimulation. The comparison of quantitative data was done using t test. The qualitative data were compared using chi-square test.Results The mean fluorescence intensities (MFI) of intracellular TLR3 of imDC before poly IC stimulation in CHB group and control group were 1212.05 ± 250.80 and 1192.95 ± 301.40,respectively, which were not significantly different (t = 0. 280, P>0. 05). While after stimulation,those were 1352.98± 313.67 and 1593. 00± 349. 65, respectively, the latter was significantly higher than the former (t = 2. 880, P<0. 05). The levels of TLR3 mRNA inside mDCs in both groups were increased after poly IC stimulation, which were 0. 1204 ±0.0267 and 0. 1780 ± 0.0664, respectively in CHB group and control group, and that in control group was significantly higher (t = 3. 909, P<0.05). Furtherly, patients in CHB group were divided into HBeAg(+ ) and HBeAg( -) subgroups.After stimulation, the MFI and mRNA of TLR3 inside mDC were greatly elevated in both subgroups,but there were no difference between these two subgroups (t = 0. 366, P>0. 05). Conclusions The intracellular expressions of TLR3 in mDC in CHB group and control group are obviously increased after the poly IC stimulation, but the increased level in CHB group is lower than that in control group. The results suggest that the insufficiency of TLR3 synthesis may be related to the HBVpersistent infection.