Study On The Inadequate Promoter Methylation Of Interferon-gamma Of The CHB Patients With Liver Fibrosis

ObjectiveInterferon-gamma (IFN-γ), one T helper (Th)1immune cytokine, was demonstrated to participate in the progress of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).however, the definite mechanism of IFN-y mediating the fibrosis progress of CHB patients is still not fully clear. Thereby, this present study was supposed to:(1) determine the methylation status of IFN-y promoter and its serum concentration to declare whether there is a correlationship.(2) find out whether the promoter methylation of IFN-y was associated with fibrosis.Patient and Methods42patients with CHB,14patients with HC and10health people were included in our study. The serum concentration of IFN-y and HA, LN, IV-C, PCIII was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The methylation of IFN-y promoter of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMCs) was measured by Methylation specific PCR (MSP).The liver biopsy results were concluded by Pro.Zhang of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University.ResultsThe percentage of promoter methylation of IFN-γ in HC patients (100%) was obviously higher than CHB patient(52.4%). comparing with healthy people(30%) The serum concentration of IFN-y in HC patients(51.08±11.55pg/ml) was remarkably higher than CHB patients (17.07±4.47pg/ml) and healthy people(14.38±1.30pg/ml), and in CHB patients the concentration of IFN-γ was remarkably higher with higher inflammation stages (p<0.05). ConclusionThe methylation of IFN-γ promoter was correlated with fibrosis progress in CHB patients. The level of serum IFN-γ has a positive correlation with inflammation stage.