Correlation of levels of CD4~+CD25~+ Tregs with HBV load in hepatitis B patients

Objective To investigate the level of Tregs in peripheral blood of hepatitis B patients and explore the possible role of Tregs in the pathogenesis of hepatitis B patients. Methods The frequency of Tregs in PBMCs from hepatitis B patients were detected by flow cytometry and their HBV DNA serum levels were detected by PCR. Results A higher proportion of Tregs in PBMCs was observed in CSHB patients compared with CHB patients (P 0.05),chronic asymptomatic HBV carriers( P0.01)and healthy controls(P0.01).and a lower proportion of Tregs in PBMCs was noticed in AHB patients compared to CHB patients (P 0.01). There was significantly difference in frequency of Tregs in PBMCs between CHB patients and asymptomatic HBV carriers (P 0.05).without statistically significant differences between asymptomatic HBV carriers and healthy controls (P0.05).There were significantly difference in levels of HBV DNA in CSHB patients compared to CHB patients(P0.01),chronic asymptomatic HBV carriers(P0.01),AHB patients(P0.01),while no significant differences were observed among asymptomatic HBV carriers,AHB patients and CHB patients. Furthermore,there was positive correlation between levels of HBV DNA and the frequency of Tregs in peripheral blood of hepatitis B patients. Conclusion The frequency of Tregs in peripheral blood of hepatitis B patients correlated with the disease and that possibly plays an important role in hepatitis B virus infection.There was positive correlation between levels of HBV DNA and the frequency of Tregs in peripheral blood of hepatitis B patients.