Expression features of follicular helper T cells in peripheral blood in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Objective To investigate the expression features of follicular helper T ( Tfh) cells in peripheral blood in patients with chronic hepatitis B ( CHB) . Methods A total of 53 CHB patients who were admitted to Department of Hepatology in Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Xinjiang Medical University from March 2016 to March 2017 were enrolled. Fasting venous blood samples were collected in the morning, and flow cytometry was used to measure Tfh and its subsets in peripheral blood. A total of 48 healthy individuals were enrolled as controls. The independent samples t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups; a one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison between multiple groups, and the LSD-t test was used for further comparison between any two groups. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison between multiple groups. The chi-square test or Fisher' s exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. A Pearson correlation analysis was performed to investigate correlation. Results The CHB group had significant higher percentages of CD4+ICOS+, CD4+CXCR5+, and CD4+ICOS+CXCR5+Tfh cells than the control group ( Z =-4. 319, P < 0. 001; t = 3. 742, P < 0. 001; t = 15. 948, P < 0. 001) . There were no significant differences in the percentages of CD4+ICOS+, CD4+CXCR5+, and CD4+ICOS+CXCR5+Tfh cells between the CHB patients with different immune stages, i. e., low-level replication, immune tolerance, and immune clearance ( all P > 0. 05) . CD4+ICOS+CXCR5+was not correlated with HBs Ag quantitation or HBV DNA. Conclusion Tfh cells are involved in the immune response mediated by hepatitis B virus, and they exert an anti-HBV effect by regulating humoral immune response.