Expression of TRAIL in liver tissue from patients with different outcomes of HBV infection

Summary Objectives Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection triggers the production of TRAIL, suggesting that TRAIL may play a role in liver injury after HBV infection. However, it remains unclear whether TRAIL expression in liver tissue correlates with the extent of liver injury caused by HBV infection. The aim of this article was to investigate the correlation of TRAIL expression and disease severity. Methods Liver biopsy specimens were collected from 71 patients with different outcomes of HBV infection, including 25 cases of chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 18 cases of severe hepatitis B (SHB), and 28 cases of liver cirrhosis (LC). Besides, specimens from 33 healthy individuals without detectable liver diseases were used as negative control (NC). The expression of TRAIL was measured by immunohistochemistry. Results Expression of TRAIL in the HBV-infected patients was higher than that in the NC ( P P P  = 0.067 and P =  0.178, respectively). Moreover, TRAIL expression in patients with CHB was higher than that in patients with SHB or LC ( P P  = 0.511). Conclusion TRAIL is involved in the inflammatory and immunoregulatory response after HBV infection. However, there was no significant correlation between expression of TRAIL and the extent of liver injury.