Expression of TH1/TH2 Cytokines mRNA of PBMC in Hepatocarcinoma Patients

Objective To explore the expression pattern of TH1 type cytokines IL-2、IFN-γmRNA and TH2 type cytokine IL-4 mRNAin peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of primary hepatic cancer(PHC) patients, and observe the different expression of IL-2 and IFN-γmRNA before and after the tumor resection.Methods The expression of IL-2 、IL-4 and IFN-γmRNA of 18 patients and 15 normal volunteers in PBMC was detected by RT-PCR method and the results were analyzed by gel image analysis system.Results The expression of IL-2、IFN-γ mRNA were 16.7% and 5.6% ,which lower than that of IL-4( 88.9% ,P 0.05 ) in 18 patients and it shows the typical TH2 shift. The expression value of IL-2、IFN-γ mRNA was between 0.10 ~ 0.11 lower than that of IL-4. The expression of IL-2 and IFN-γmRNA were 25.0% and 12.5% with 8 patients of stage I before the operation ,which was higher than that of control group; but, it was lower than that of the postoperative group( 50.0% 、 27.5% respectively). The expression value of pre-operative group and normal control group ( 0.10 ~ 0.11 )was significantly lower than that of the postoperative group ( 0.20 ~ 0.22 , P0.05). Besides,10 cases of stage Ⅱpatients have no expression of IFN-γ before and after the tumor excision.Conclusion The typical shift of TH2 occurred in PBMCs of PHC patients. Besides, surgical treatment might increase gene expression of TH1 type cytokines in PBMC of PHC patients with early stage, but it may be has no obvious effect on patients with intermedium or end stage in short period.