Significance and detection of IL-2、IL-4 and IFN-γ in PBMC from patients with hepatitis B virus infection

Objective To explore the relationships between helper T Lymphocyte Th1/Th2 cells and hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection status.Methods Total 40 cases were included in the study as follows:25 cases of CHB patients(CHB group),5 cases of those who were cured naturaly after HBV infection(CN group),5 cases of CHB patients achiving complete response after antiviral therapy(VR group) and 5 cases of healthy volunteers(control group).PBMCs were isolated from all the cases,and the levels of interferon-γ(IFN-γ),interlerkin-2(IL-2) and interlerkin-4(IL-4) secreted by Th1 and Th2 cells were measured by FACS.Results The levels of IFN-γ(0.4680 ± 0.0377),IL-2(0.5000 ± 0.0625) in CHB group were lower than those in control and CN groups(0.336 ± 0.29082,0.256 ± 0.17799)(P 0.001).The levels of IFN-γ(0.1620 ± 0.0396),IL-2(0.1940 ± 0.0416) in VR group were lower than those in control group(0.4680 ± 0.0377,0.5000 ± 0.0625)(P 0.001),but the level of IL-4(0.5096 ± 0.1329) was higher than control(0.2820 ± 0.0622)(P 0.001).The levels of IFN-γ(0.336 ± 0.29082,IL-2(0.256 ± 0.17799) in CN group were lower than those in control(0.4680 ± 0.0377,0.5000 ± 0.0625)(P 0.001),but the level of IL-4(1.29 ± 0.16778) was higher than the other three groups obviously(0.2820 ± 0.0622,0.5096 ± 0.1329,0.5740 ± 0.06693),(P 0.001).Conclusion Our study suggested that there are correlations between the function of Th1 /Th2 cells and the chronic progression of hepatitis B virus infection.