[The relationship between clinical outcomes of hepatitis B virus infection and the host' s cellular immunity].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the differences of peripheral blood T-lymphocyte subsets and the frequencies of HBV-specific CD4 T cells in patients with symptomatic chronic hepatitis B, asymptomatic HBV carriers and patients who had recovered from subclinical HBV infection, to analyze the relationship between different clinical outcomes after HBV infection and the host's cellular immunity and to give a new clue to the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.


METHODS
Flow cytometry was used to detect the peripheral blood T-lymphocyte subsets in 30 patients with symptomatic chronic hepatitis B, 22 asymptomatic HBV carriers, 9 patients who had recovered from subclinical HBV infection and 11 healthy blood donors. The frequencies of HBV-specific CD4+ T cells in relation to recombinant HBV core antigen were tested with IFNgamma enzyme-linked immunospot assays (ELISpot).


RESULTS
Compared with patients who had recovered from subclinical HBV infection and normal controls, the count of CD4+ T cells decreased in patients with symptomatic chronic hepatitis B. The frequencies of HBV-specific CD4+ T cells were (156 +/- 105), (56 +/- 68) and (229 +/- 114) SFC/10(6)PBMC (SFC: spot-forming cells; PBMC: peripheral blood mononuclear cells) respectively in patients with symptomatic chronic hepatitis B, asymptomatic HBV carriers and patients who had recovered from subclinical HBV infection. The frequencies of HBV-specific CD4+ T cells in patients with symptomatic chronic hepatitis B were markedly higher than those in asymptomatic HBV carriers (P < 0.01), but lower than that in patients who had recovered from subclinical HBV infection (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
There was significant difference in the frequencies of HBV-specific T cells in patients with symptomatic chronic hepatitis B, asymptomatic HBV carriers and patients who had recovered from subclinical HBV infection and these might be one of the primary reasons for the different clinical outcomes after HBV infection.
Tian
Ying
Y
Department of Infectious Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Li
Tai-Sheng
TS
D000328:Adult; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D002353:Carrier State / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged