Objective To investigate changes in serum Th1/Th2 ratios of patients with chronic hepatitis B during Lamivudine treatment.Methods Serum INF-γ and IL-4 levels were determined by ELISA in 60 patients with chronic hepatitis B at baseline and 3, 6, 9 and 12 months during treatment.At the same time, and 20 healthy volunteers were served as normal control.Results The patients with high ALT levels showed higher IFN-γ levels and IFN-γ/IL-4 ratios than those with low ALT levels, and they showed higher rate of complete response and lower rate of non-response to LAM treatment.After treatment, the ratios of IFN-γ to IL-4 in complete response patients were approximate to those of control group, sometimes even higher than them.The ratios of IFN-γ to IL-4 in partial response and non response patients were lower than those of control group.Conclusion LAM can increase the release of IFN-γ (cytokines of Th1 type) , whereas inhibit IL-4 (cytokines of Th2 type) levels.The antiviral effect is related to the recovery of Th1/Th2 balance.The reconstruction of the T lymphocyte function in vivo is an important aspect in antiviral treatment.
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