[Changes of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and TLR4 on the peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with chronic hepatitis B and chronic severe hepatitis B].
OBJECTIVE
To study the changes of TLR2 and TLR4 on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and their role in the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B and chronic severe hepatitis B.


METHODS
The expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 on 10000 CD14+ PBMCs were determined by flow cytometry in 30 healthy controls, in 31 patients with chronic hepatitis B and in 30 patients with chronic severe hepatitis B. The level of serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) was determined by ELISA. The differences of expression of TLR2 and TLR4 on PBMCs and serum TNFalpha among the three groups of study subjects were determined by Student-t test. The correlations between TLR2, TLR4 and TNF alpha were determined by linear correlation test.


RESULTS
The values of mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of TLR2 on PBMCs of the healthy controls, patients with chronic hepatitis B and patients with chronic severe hepatitis B groups were 21.5+/-2.7, 39.0+/-4.1, and 47.7+/-21.4; TLR4 of those groups was 2.3+/-1.1, 3.7+/-2.3, and 6.9+/-4.1. The serum TNF alpha(ng/L) of the respective groups was 53.8+/-38.1, 164.3+/-89.9, and 359.8+/-140.0. There was a gradual increase of these values from the group of healthy controls to the group of patients with chronic hepatitis B and patients with chronic severe hepatitis B. No significant positive correlations between TLR2, TLR4 and serum TNFalpha were found.


CONCLUSIONS
TLR2 and TLR4 may have a role in the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B and chronic severe hepatitis B.
Wei
Xiu-qing
XQ
Department of Digestive Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China. weixiuqing1975@yahoo.com.cn
Wen
Zhuo-fu
ZF
Zheng
Feng-ping
FP
Yao
Ji-lu
JL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood
C495342:TLR2 protein, human; C495345:TLR4 protein, human; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha