Toll-like receptor 7 and 9 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with chronic hepatitis B and related hepatocellular carcinoma

• 来源期刊: 中国药理学报（英文版）
• 关键词: hepatocellular carcinoma peripheral blood mononuclear cells hepatitis B innate immunity receptors viruses Toil-like receptor 7 Toil-like receptor 9
• 年，卷（期）: 2008,（2）
• 页码范围: 239-244
• 页数: 6页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7254.2008.00711.x

摘要

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of Toll-like receptors (TLR) 7 and 9 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and related hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: The study group was comprised of 52 patients: 41 with chronic hepatitis B and 11 healthy controls. The protein and mRNA levels of TLR7 and TLR9 were evaluated using real-time PCR, Western blot analysis, and flow cytometry. We also detected the serum viral load of HBV in the patients and analyzed the corre-lation between HBV-DNA copies and the TLR expression. Results: Our results demonstrated a lower TLR7 expression in all HBV infection groups compared to the controls. We found that HBV infection led to a decreased expression of TLR9 mRNA, but an increased expression of the TLR9 protein compared to the healthy group. The TLR protein levels are related to serum HBV-DNA (P<0.01).Conclusion: There are downregulations of TLR7 expression and TLR9 mRNA in PBMC of HBV-infected patients, but an increased TLR9 expression at the protein level.