Association of cytokines with hepatitis B virus and its antigen
Ming-Hui Li 1 2 , Qi-Qi Chen 2 , Lu Zhang 1 , Hui-Hui Lu 1 , Fang-Fang Sun 1 , Zhan Zeng 2 , Yao Lu 1 , Wei Yi 3 , Yao Xie 1 2
Affiliations
Affiliations
1
Department of Hepatology Division 2, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100015, China.
2
Department of Hepatology Division 2, Peking University Ditan Teaching Hospital, Beijing, Beijing, 100015, China.
3
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100015, China.
PMID: 32662892 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.26301
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the characteristics of cytokines in patients with different HBV infection status and their correlation with HBV DNA, HBsAg and HBeAg levels.
Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from patients with chronic HBV infection in immune tolerance phase (IT), HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and acute hepatitis B (AHB) groups, and levels of cytokines were detected by Luminex technique, and analyzed by FLEXMAP 3D analyzer. The correlation between cytokines and HBV DNA load, HBsAg, HBeAg and ALT level in patients with chronic HBV infection was analyzed.
Results: In total 312 subjects (184 males, 128 females) were enrolled in the study. There were significant differences among IT, CHB, and AHB groups in Flt-3L value ((P=0.003; H=12.312), IFN-γ (P=0.001; H=11.723), IL-10 (P=0.001; H=18.736), IL-17A ((P= 0.001; H=12.735), and TGF-β1 ((P=0.001; Z=48.571). IFN-α2 levels in CHB group were significantly higher than those in IT and AHB groups (15.24 vs 35.78 pg/ml, P=0.000, Z=3.727; 13.88 vs. 35.78 pg/ml, P=0.024; Z=-2.258. In CHB group, the levels of HBsAg and ALT were positively correlated with the levels of IL-10 (r=0.173, P=0.006; r=0.176, P=0.006, respectively), while HBeAg level was positively correlated with the IFN-α2 level (r=0.153, P=0.016). In AHB group, the HBsAg level was positively correlated with Flt-3L, IFN-α2, IL-10 and IL-6 (r=0.402, P=0.023; r=0.436, P=0.016; r=0.524, P=0.002; r=0.405, P=0.022, respectively). HBeAg level was positively correlated with IFN-γ and IL-17A levels (r=0.400, P=0.023; r=0.373, P=0.036, respectively), and ALT level was positively correlated with IL-6 levels (r=0.367, P=0.039). In either AHB or CHB group, HBV DNA load was only related to TGF -β level (r=0.493, P=0.004; r=-0.218, P=0.009 respectively). The correlation between Flt-3L and HBsAg (F=7.422; P=0.007); IL-17, IL-6 and HBeAg (F=5.757, P=0.017; F=6.156, P=0.014) were statistically significant. There was significant correlation between TGF-β2 and HBV DNA (F=11.795; P=0.001), and between ALT and HBsAg, HBV DNA (F=26.089, P=0.000; F=4.724, P=0.031).
Conclusion: HBsAg, HBeAg, and HBV DNA were correlated with cytokines and ALT in patients with HBV infection. The level of IFN-α2 was significantly higher in patients with CHB. HBV DNA load was only correlated with the level of TGF-β in acute or CHB. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.