Expression of Sema4D in peripheral blood T cells and serum of patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis and its clinical significance / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the expression of Sema4D in peripheral blood T cells and serum of patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis and its correlation with clinical indicators. Methods A total of 20 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 68 patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis, and 20 healthy controls who attended The 940 th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese People's Liberation Army from October 2020 to November 2021 were enrolled. According to Child-Pugh class, the patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis were divided into Child-Pugh class A group with 24 patients, Child-Pugh class B group with 24 patients, and Child-Pugh class C group with 20 patients. After peripheral blood samples were collected to isolate serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), flow cytometry was used to measure the expression of membrane-bound Sema4D (mSema4D) + CD4 + T cells and mSema4D + CD8 + T cells in PBMCs, and ELISA was used to measure the expression of soluble Sema4D (sSema4D) in serum; their correlation with viral replication and liver inflammation markers was analyzed. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the least significant difference t -test was used for further comparison between two groups; the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for further comparison between two groups; a Spearman correlation analysis was also performed. Results There were significant differences in the expression of mSema4D + CD4 + T cells and mSema4D + CD8 + T cells between the CHB group, the hepatitis B cirrhosis group, and the control group ( F =43.092 and 13.344, both P < 0.001), while there were significant differences between any two groups ( P < 0.05). The expression levels of mSema4D + CD4 + T cells and mSema4D + CD8 + T cells gradually decreased with increasing Child-Pugh class ( F =14.093 and 17.154, both P < 0.05), and there were significant differences between any two groups ( P < 0.05). The content of sSema4D was 1.54(1.42-1.71) ng/mL in the control group, 1.08(1.07-1.38) ng/mL in the CHB group, and 4.87(2.13-14.97) ng/mL in the hepatitis B cirrhosis group, with a significant difference between the three groups ( H =32.366, P < 0.001) and between any two groups ( P < 0.05). The content of sSema4D was 2.42(0.59-5.65) ng/mL in the Child-Pugh class A group, 4.92(2.75-12.73) ng/mL in the Child-Pugh class B group, and 14.18(4.59-18.43) ng/mL in the Child-Pugh class C group, with a significant difference between the three groups ( H =11.889, P =0.003) and between any two groups ( P < 0.05). In patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis, the level of sSema4D was positively correlated with the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and HBV DNA quantification ( r =0.294 and 0.430, both P < 0.05). Conclusion Sema4D is lowly expressed on T cell membrane and highly expressed in serum of patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis, and sSema4D may be involved in the development and progression of hepatitis B cirrhosis by affecting the levels of ALT and HBV DNA.