Clinical significance of the co-stimulatory molecule expression in the peripheral T lymphocytes of patients with chronic hepatitis B infection

Objective To investigate the changes in the expression of co-stimulatory molecules in the peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. Methods 126 patients with chronic hepatitis B who got medical treatment in our hospital from 2013 March to 2014 March, together with 90 healthy subjects were enrolled in our case-control study, We determined the expression levels of CD28, cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen(CTLA)-4, programmed cell death(PD)-1, T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domaim(Tim)-3, CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+ on peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets with flow cytometry and Real-time PCR. Results The percentage of CD3+ and CD4+ T cells, CD4+/CD8+ ratio in patients with chronic hepatitis B were significantly lower than those in healthy control, and the percentage of CD8+ T cells was significantly higher than in healthy conntrol(t=4.0868, 7.4660, 5.5207 and 3.8160, all P<0.01). Meanwhile, compared with the HBV DNA-negative patients with chronic hepatitis B infection( CHB), the HBV DNA-positive patients with CHB had a significant change in the percentage of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells , as well as in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio (t=5.1567, 2.7884, 2.9987and 2.9087, all P<0.01). Besides, the percentage of CD28 and CTLA-4 in patients with chronic hepatitis B were significantly lower than those in healthy control, and the percentage of PD-1 and Tim-3 were significantly higher than those in healthy conntrol(t=6.0546, 5.0669 and 6.3006, 8.2151, all P<0.01). The percentage of CD28 and CTLA-4 in patients with high copies group were significantly lower than those in low copies group, and the percentage of PD-1 and Tim-3 were significantly higher than those in low copy group (t=3.1293, 2.7459, 2.8661, 2.7960, all P<0.01). Conclusion The changes in the expression of co-stimulatory molecules on the peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets may guide the clinical therapy and judge the prognosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. Key words: Chronic hepatitis B; T lymphocyte cell subsets in peripheral blood; Co-stimulatory moleculesl; flow cytometry