Expression of IFN-α and IL-12 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic hepatitis B and its clinical significance

Objective To detect the expression of interferon-α(IFN-α) and interleukin 12(IL-12) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) of patients with chronic hepatitis B and analyze cellular immune status of the patients with chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection.Methods The PBMCs of patients with chronic HBV infection were cultured,then the antiviral biological activity of PBMCs stimulated with high concentration of PolyIC in the culture supernatants was detected by viral protection assay.IL-12 mRNA in PBMCs from the patients with chronic hepatitis B was measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).Results The obtained data indicated that lower titer of IFN-αfrom PolyIC-induced PBMCs existed in patients infected by chronic HBV.Enhanced IFN-αactivity from PBMCs stimulated by PolyIC was found in the responder(n=4) who were treated with IFN-α2b.However,continuously lower activity of IFN-αfrom PBMCs presented in non-responder(n=12) during IFN-α2b therapy.The expressions of IL-12 mRNA in PBMCs from both responder and non-responder were significantly higher than those of normal control group(n=10) before treatment with IFN-α2b(P0.01).However,after treating with IFN-α2b,the level of IL-12 mRNA of responder decreased but the level of IL-12 mRNA of non-responder kept high.Conclusions The cellular immune function of the patients with chronic HBV infection is impaired.The expression of IFN-αgene in non-responder of the patients with chronic HBV infection was inhibited.The level of IL-12 was consistent with the activity of liver inflammation.The IFN-α activity of PBMCs may be a marker for the prognosis of disease in the chronic hepatitis B patients after IFN-αtherapy.