Association of interleukin-2 receptor expression with liver pathological changes in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Objective To investigate the association between serum interleukin( IL) and liver pathological changes in patients with chronic hepatitis B( CHB). Methods A total of 59 patients with CHB who were treated in Putuo District Central Hospital of Shanghai from February 2018 to February 2019 were enrolled as subjects,and liver biopsy was performed for all patients. According to the degree of liver inflammation,the patients were divided into mild inflammation( G1-G2) group and severe inflammation( G3-G4) group,and according to the degree of liver fibrosis,the patients were divided into mild fibrosis( S0-S2) group and severe fibrosis( S3-S4) group. Serum liver function parameters,blood lipids,interleukin-2( IL-2),interleukin-6( IL-6),interleukin-8( IL-8),and interleukin-10( IL-10)were measured for all patients. The independent samples t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups,and the Wilcoxon non-parametric test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups;the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. A Spearman correlation analysis was also performed.Results The degree of liver fibrosis increased with the increase in liver inflammation( rs= 0. 538,P < 0. 001). Compared with the mild inflammation group,the severe inflammation group had significantly higher serum levels of alanine aminotransferase [95. 00( 45. 00-169. 25) U/L vs 51. 00( 29. 00-88. 00) U/L,Z =-2. 625,P = 0. 009],aspartate aminotransferase [54. 50( 34. 75-84. 50) U/L vs38. 00( 30. 00-49. 00) U/L,Z =-2. 014,P = 0. 044],and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase [91. 00( 56. 72-192. 25) U/L vs 44. 00( 24. 00-100. 00) U/L,Z =-2. 400,P = 0. 016]. The severe fibrosis group had a significantly higher serum level of high-density lipoprotein than the mild fibrosis group [0. 97( 0. 32-1. 08) mmol/L vs 1. 23( 0. 36-1. 38) mmol/L,Z =-1. 300,P = 0. 008]. The severe inflammation group had a significantly higher serum level of IL-2 receptor than the mild inflammation group [704. 00( 418. 00-1038. 00) U/ml vs 436. 00( 335. 00-555. 00) U/ml,Z =-3. 405,P = 0. 001],and the severe fibrosis group had a significantly higher serum level of IL-2 receptor than the mild fibrosis group [735. 00( 523. 00-890. 50) U/ml vs 447. 00( 351. 50-624. 50) U/ml,Z =-5. 358,P = 0. 001]. Conclusion The degree of liver inflammation is positively correlated with that of liver fibrosis,while the serum level of IL-2 receptor increases with the increase in the degrees of liver inflammation and fibrosis,indicating that IL-2 receptor can reflect the degrees of liver inflammation and fibrosis to some extent.