Effect of heparin on the Th1/Th2 differentiation in patients with chronic hepatitis B

To investigate the influence of the heparin-treated DCs on the Th1/Th2 differentiation in patients with chronic hepatitis B.The peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs)from patients were isolated and cultivated in RPMI 1640 medium with recombinant GM-CSF(10 ng/ml),IL-4(50 ng/ml)or heparin(50 u/ml)to obtain dendritic cells(DCs).With the dynal immuno -magnetic beads,the CD4~+ T cell subpopulation in peripheral blood was separated,and then the contents of IL-6,IL- 12,IFN-7 and IL-4 in culture supernatants of the DCs or T cells were detected with ELISA.The expressions of CD1a, CD40,CD83,CD80,CD86 and HLA-DR molecule on DCs before and after treatment with heparin were detected by flow cytometer (FACS).It was found that the content of IFN-γin Thl cell supernatants of chronic hepatitis B patients was lower than that of health adults(P0.01),and the expression of the surface molecules including CD1a,CD40,CD80,CD83,CD86 and HLA-DR on the heparin-treated DCs and the concentration of IL-12 in culture supernatants of heparin-treated DCs were significantly increased(P0.01),but the level of IL-6 in heparin-treated DCs supernatants was reduced(P0.05).When the T cells from allogenic patients with chronic hepatitis and the heparin-treated DCs were co-cultivated,the capability of Th1 cells to generate IFN-γwas remarkably increased(P0.01).It is concluded that the heparin-treated DCs are able to improve partly the deficiency of Th1 cell differentiation in peripheral blood.