Change in the expression of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets during disease progression in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

Objective To investigate the change in the expression of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets during disease progression in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection. Methods A total of 132 patients with chronic HBV infection who were hospitalized in Tianjin Second People's Hospital from January 2018 to April 2019 were enrolled,and among these patients,47 had chronic hepatitis B,44 had hepatitis B cirrhosis(cirrhosis group),and 41 had hepatitis B cirrhosis-related primary liver cancer(liver cancer group). A total of 42 healthy individuals who underwent physical examination during the same period of time were enrolled as control group. Flow cytometry was used to measure the accurate counts of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets,and the expression of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets was compared between the four groups. A Welch analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data with heterogeneity of variance between groups,and the Games-Howell test was used for further comparison between two groups. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. A Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate correlation. Results Compared with the control group and the chronic hepatitis B group,the cirrhosis group and the liver cancer group had significant reductions in the numbers of CD3+and CD4+T cells(all P < 0. 05). Compared with the control group,the liver cancer group had a significant reduction in the number of CD8+T cells(P < 0. 05); compared with the chronic hepatitis B group,the cirrhosis group and the liver cancer group had a significant reduction in the number of CD8+T cells(both P < 0. 05). Compared with the control group and the chronic hepatitis B group,the cirrhosis group and the liver cancer group had a significant reduction in the number of CD19+B cells(all P < 0. 05). Compared with the control group,the cirrhosis group and the liver cancer group had a significant reduction in the number of CD16+CD56+natural killer(NK) cells(both P < 0. 05); compared with the chronic hepatitis B group,the liver cancer group had a significant reduction in the number of CD16+CD56+NK cells(P < 0. 05). In the four groups,disease progression was negatively correlated with peripheral blood CD3+T cells,CD4+T cells,CD8+T cells,CD19+B cells,and CD16+CD56+NK cells(r =-0. 414,-0. 503,-0. 269,-0. 435,and-0. 402,all P < 0. 01).Conclusion In patients with chronic HBV infection,immune status changes with disease progression. Accurate counting of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets can reflect the immune status of the body and can thus be used as a reference for evaluating clinical evolution,treatment outcome,and prognosis of chronic HBV infection.