Expression of achaete-scute homologue 2 and its correlation with serum globulin in patients with chronic hepatitis C

Objective To investigate the correlation between peripheral CD4+CXCR5+PD- 1+T cells and serum globulin in chronic hepatitis C( CHC) patients and health volunteers,and to clarify the role of the expression of achaete- scute homologue 2( Ascl2),the transcription factor in peripheral follicular helper T( Tfh) cells,in the process of chronic hepatitis C virus( HCV) infection. Methods A total of 46 previously untreated CHC patients who were admitted to Tangdu Hospital,Fourth Military Medical University,from October 2015 to May 2016 were enrolled,and 32 healthy laboratory technicians and persons who underwent physical examination in our hospital were enrolled as healthy control group. Flow cytometry was used to measure the percentage of Tfh cells in CD4+T cells and the change in its subset( CD4+CXCR5+PD- 1+T cells) in peripheral blood,an automatic biochemical analyzer was used to measure the serum globulin level,and real- time PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression of Ascl2 in Tfh cells. The association between the changes in these parameters and HCV infection was analyzed. The independent samples t- test was used for the comparison of continuous data between groups,and the Pearson correlation analysis was also performed. Results In CHC patients,peripheral Tfh cells were positively correlated with B lymphocytes( r = 0. 582 3,P = 0. 011 2),peripheral B lymphocytes were positively correlated with globulin( r = 0. 450 9,P = 0. 031 6),and Tfh cells were positively correlated with globulin( r = 0. 583 5,P = 0. 038 3). CHC patients had significantly higher mRNA expression of Ascl2 in peripheral Tfh cells than the healthy control group( 1. 019 ± 0. 666 vs 6. 437 ± 5. 776,t = 4. 552,P = 0. 001 9). Conclusion Tfh cells may be involved in the production of serum globulin in CHC patients,and the transcription factor Ascl2 may participate in the differentiation and development of Tfh cells in the process of HCV infection.