Correlation between the recent thymic output function and the frequency of nave T cell in CHB patients

Objective To test the content of T cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) and the frequency of naive T lymphocytes in patients with chronic HBV infection and analyze their correlation.Methods Peripheral blood were collected from normal individuals and patients with chronic HBV infections. (1) TRECs were assessed by real-time PCR; (2) Lymphocytes were labeled with fluorescent-labeled antibodies FITC-CD3, PE-CD45RA and PE-cy5-CD62L and flow cytometry was used to detect the expressions of CD3, CD45RA and CD62L on the surface of T lymphocytes.Results (1) The TRECs (6.78±1.06) copies/103 in patients (n=25) with chronic HBV infections was significantly lower than that (8.16±2.07) copies/103 in healthy controls (n=25) (P<0.01) .The frequency of nave T cells (20.73±6.75) % in patients (n=25) with chronic HBV infections was significantly lower than that (27.82±9.66) % in healthy controls (n=25) (P<0.05) . (2) Both in patients with chronic HBV infections and in healthy controls, the frequency of nave T cells were in positive linear correlation with the TRECs, while the coefficient correlation were 0.688 (P<0.01) and 0.646 (P<0.01) respectively.The coefficient correlation in the two groups had no statistical differences, (P>0.05) .Conclusion Both the nave T cell in peripheral blood and the TRECs in patients with chronic HBV infection were decreased compare to the healthy adult, and the two indices had better linear correlation.