[Influence of IFN on expression of chemokine receptor CXCR1, CXCR2 and their ligand IL-8 in the patients with chronic hepatitis B].

AIM

To study the mRNA levels of chemokine receptor CXCR1, CXCR2 and IL-8 in the patients with chronic hepatitis B and their association with IFN therapy.

METHODS

The mRNA levels of CXCR1, CXCR2 and IL-8 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC)of chronic hepatitis B patients were determined by real-time RT-PCR before and during the IFN-α therapy.

RESULTS

The mRNA levels of CXCR1(0.4474 ± 0.0386)and IL-8(1.1897 ± 0.1028)in peripheral blood of the patients with chronic hepatitis B were significantly higher than those in healthy donors(P<0.01). The mRNA level of CXCR2(0.4720 ± 0.0458)was higher than those in healthy donors, but there was no significant differences between the two groups. During the treatment, the mRNA levels of CXCR1, CXCR2 and IL-8 obviously decreased. After treatment for six month, the mRNA level of CXCR1(0.4129 ± 0.0395), CXCR2(0.4461 ± 0.0477) and IL-8(0.8660 ± 0.1307)were significantly lower than those before treatment(P<0.01 or P<0.05). Additionally, the expressive levels of CXCR1, CXCR2 and IL-8 in the high HBV loading group(HBV-DNA>10(6);)were much higher than those in the low HBV loading group(HBV-DNA<10(6);).

CONCLUSION

CXCR1 and IL-8 may contribute to hepatic inflammation. Among them, CXCR1, CXCR2 and IL-8 decrease after IFN treatment, which illustrates that IFN-α plays an important role in down-regulating inflammation response, controlling the development of the patients' condition.