Inlfuence Of The Levels Of CD4~+CD25~+Foxp3~+Reguiatory T Cells In Chronic Hepatitis B Patients With Interferon Therapied

Objective：To study significance and changes in frequency of CD4~+CD25~+Foxp3~+regulatory T cells (Treg) in peripheral blood before and after antiviral therapied withinterferon for chronic hepatitis B (HBV) patients.Methods：Collected30cases of chronic hepatitis B(CHB) patients who were systemtreated with recombinant human interferon α1b(50μg) for6months(CHB group);Collected anticoagulant peripheral blood from CHB group before and after treated.Inthe same period,Collected10cases of healthy volunteers’ anticoagulant peripheralblood that serological markers of hepatitis virus were negative and liver functionswere normal as control(normal control group).Detected the Treg frequency(Treg/lymphocyte percentage) in peripheral blood by flow cytometry,the expression ofFoxp3mRNA in peripheral blood by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chainreaction(RT-PCR),and analyzed the correlations between the Treg frequency andserum alanineaminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and HBVDNA.Results：(1) Before interferon α1b treated:The Treg frequency in peripheral blood ofCHB group (1.18%±0.45%) significantly higher than that of normal control group(0.55%±0.13%, P<0.01);The Treg frequency in peripheral blood of mild, moderateand severe CHB patients were0.83%±0.15%,1.08%±0.26%and1.62%±0.45%respectively,which were in trend of gradually increasing.Differences among the threewere statistically significant by multiple comparisons(P<0.05, P<0.01and P<0.01respectively).(2)After interferon α1b treated for6months:Treg frequency of CHB group(0.74%±0.19%) was significantly lower than that of before interferon treated(1.18%±0.45%, P<0.01). serum ALT and AST of CHB group(55.7U/L±30.4U/L、43.2U/L±23.5U/L) was significantly lower than that of before interferon treated(466.9U/L±650.3U/L、345.8U/L±582.8U/L，P<0.01、P<0.01). (3) Before interferon treated the Treg frequency was positively correlated withthe levels of serum ALT and AST before interferon treated (r=0.69, P<0.01andr=0.72, P<0.01), but was no significant correlated with serum HBV DNA beforeinterferon treated (r=-0.06, P>0.05).After interferon treated the Treg frequency waspositively correlated with the levels of serum ALT and AST after interferon treated(r=0.50, P<0.01and r=0.42, P<0.05respectively).Conclusions：(1) The Treg frequency in peripheral blood of CHB patients was increase withthe severity of liver inflammation.The Treg frequency can reflect the degree of liverinflammation in hepatitis B patients.(2) interferon α1b treatment can effectively reduce the Treg frequency and thelevels of serum ALT and AST in peripheral blood of CHB patients.The Tregfrequency might become an important index that reflect the antiviral efficacy onCHB patients.