Immunotherapy of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection by HBsAg-activated dendritic cells combining with cytokine induced killer cells

Purpose: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most common human viruses threatening people’s health and life. The objective of the present study was to explore clinical efficacy of HBsAg-activated dendritic cells (DCs) and cytokine induced killer (CIK) cells on patients with Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB). Methods: Fourteen patients suffering CHB who met the inclusion criteria were collected. Autologous DC and CIK cells were separately induced from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and they were amplified and co-cultured. The obtained DC-CIK cells were used to treat CHB patients in immune therapy for 5 times. Clinical treating effects with autologous DC-CIK cells in patients with CHB were observed. Results: Comparing respective values before and after treatment, the change of HBsAg (P=0. 0.041) was statistically significant, but not the HBV-DNA level (P=0.975). After treatment, liver functions of patients were slightly changed without statistical significances such as TB (total bilirubin). In addition, the immune responses were not significantly activated since of CD3CD4, T helper\T suppressor cells and regulatory T cells. Conclusions: The clinical treatment effects of autologous DC-CIK on HBeAg positive CHB have not showed overall effectiveness in patients, which may be result of complicated patient characteristics including immune status. Therefore, further studies for the clinical efficacy of autologous DC-CIK for the treatment of CHB patients are still needed.