RESUMO
The AIM2 (absent in melanoma 2) protein promotes host defenses against invading viruses and pathogenic bacteria through corresponding adapter molecules leading to the initiation of innate immune responses. We investigated the expression of AIM2 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with acute hepatitis B (AHB) and chronic hepatitis B (CHB) during different clinical phases, and analyzed the correlation between AIM2 and clinical profiles in these groups. This study indicated that there is higher expression of AIM2, IL-1ß, and IL-18 in AHB compared with expression in CHB. The expression of AIM2 mRNA was significantly negatively correlated with serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) load, HBeAg, and significantly positively correlated with IL-1ß and IL-18 in AHB patients and CHB patients with immune clearance, which suggests that AIM2 expression is correlated with the immune clearance of HBV in the host. We summarized that there is a higher immune status in AHB, and a lower immune response in CHB. This suggests that the down-regulation of AIM2 may be associated with the chronic development of HB.
Assuntos
Hepatite B Crônica/imunologia , Hepatite B/imunologia , Leucócitos Mononucleares/imunologia , Proteínas Nucleares/imunologia , Doença Aguda , Adulto , Western Blotting , DNA Viral/sangue , DNA Viral/imunologia , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA , Ensaio de Imunoadsorção Enzimática , Feminino , Expressão Gênica/imunologia , Hepatite B/genética , Hepatite B/metabolismo , Antígenos E da Hepatite B/sangue , Antígenos E da Hepatite B/imunologia , Vírus da Hepatite B/genética , Vírus da Hepatite B/imunologia , Vírus da Hepatite B/fisiologia , Hepatite B Crônica/genética , Hepatite B Crônica/metabolismo , Interações Hospedeiro-Patógeno/imunologia , Humanos , Interleucina-18/sangue , Interleucina-18/imunologia , Interleucina-1beta/sangue , Interleucina-1beta/imunologia , Leucócitos Mononucleares/metabolismo , Leucócitos Mononucleares/virologia , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa , Adulto JovemRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the clinical virological characteristics of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in chronic HBV infection patients of different ages, especially in relapse patients and patients with immune clearance. METHODS: The HBV clinical virological characteristics of chronic HBV infection were investigated in 1572 Chinese patients of different age groups (<20, 20-40, and >40 years old). RESULTS: Of the patients in the below 20 age group, those with evidence of immune tolerance accounted for 86.05% (P<0.001). Of the patients in the 20-40 age group, those with immune clearance accounted for 36.36% (P<0.001). Of the patients in the above 40 age group, there were markedly more reactivation cases than in any other group (P<0.001). Our data indicated that a positive correlation (r=0.480, P<0.001) existed between HBV DNA contents (on a log10 scale) and the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level of the total cases with reactivation. Of the 300 cases with immune clearance being followed up 10-50 months after enrollment, 181 cases achieved spontaneous hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion (HBeAg to anti-HBe), and the younger the patient, the shorter the time to seroconversion (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Generally, there were significantly different HBV clinical virological characteristics in patients with chronic HBV infection of different ages. Different features were observed in relapse patients and patients with immune clearance at different ages, and these two types of patients needed antiretroviral therapy. Our study suggests that revisions of the timing and elevated alanine aminotransferase standards for chronic hepatitis B antiretroviral therapy in Chinese relapse patients and patients with immune clearance in different age groups are warranted.
