interleukin-7 in patients with chronic hepatitis b may have effect on t follicular helper cells and specific cellular immunity

conclusions this study suggests that the il-7 level of chb patients may be related to tfh cells. in chb patients, il-7 possibly increases the level of tfh cells and hbv-specific cellular immune responses and thereby reduces the hbv dna level. background in patients with chronic hepatitis b (chb), the relation of interkeukin-7 (il-7) to either the t follicular helper cells (tfh cells) or to a specific cellular immune response is not clear. objectives the present study aims to explore the possible relationship of il-7 to tfh cells and to hepatitis b virus (hbv)-specific cellular immune response in patients with chb. methods ninety-one adult patients with chb were divided into groups a, b, and c, according to the patients’ il-7 levels (low, medium, and high). tfh cells and hbv-specific cytotoxic t lymphocytes (ctls) were detected with flow cytometry; il-7 and il-21 were determined with a double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; and hbv dna was determined by using a real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction. results the results showed that the levels of il-7, tfh cells, il-21, and hbv-specific ctls of patients in group c were significantly higher than those of patients in group b, (p < 0.01 for each comparison) and that the levels of these four parameters of patients in group b were significantly higher than those of the patients in group a (p < 0.01 for each comparison). meanwhile, the level of hbv dna of the patients in group c was significantly lower than that of the patients in group b (p < 0.01), and that of the patients in group b was significantly lower than that of the patients in group a (p < 0.05). multiple linear regression analyses showed that il-7, tfh cells, il-21, and hbv-specific ctl might have effects on hbv dna and that only the hbv-specific ctl had an independent effect on hbv dna (p < 0.01). il-7, tfh cells, and il-21 showed independent effects on hbv-specific ctl (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, and p < 0.01).