Study on the phenotypes and function of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with hepatic cystic echinococcosis

Objective To investigate the subsets and function of peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) from patients with hepatic cystic echinococcosis(CE).Methods Fifteen patients with hepatic cystic echinococcosis(CE group) who were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University and 15 healthy people(NC group) were enrolled in this study.PBMCs were isolated from the CE and NC groups by density gradient separation and divided into 2 samples.The first sample was analyzed by flow cytometry for expression of CD14 and CD16 while the second sample was cultured in vitro.PBMCs from the CE and NC groups that were subjected to in vitro culturing were further divided into 2 groups;in 1,PBMCs received no intervention group while in the other PBMCs were subjected to intervention with recombinant antigen B(rAgB)(final concentration: 15μg/ml).After being subjected to intervention for 24 hours,cell supernatants were collected and the concentration of IFN-γ,IL-12p70,IL-10,and IL-4 was determined with ELISA.Results The ratio of PBMCs in the CE group and NC group was(13.42±3.90)% and(6.23±1.39)%,respectively.The ratio of PBMCs in the two groups differed(t=6.17,P0.05).The rate of expression of CD14 was(19.90±6.96) % and(45.61±14.25) %,respectively.The level of expression differed significantly between the CE group and NC group(t=6.28,P0.05).The rate of expression of CD16 was(22.75±8.99) % and(22.83±6.77) %,respectively.There was no difference in the level of expression(t=0.03,P0.05).When PBMCs subjected to rAgB intervention were compared to PBMCs subjected to no intervention,there were significant differences in the 4 cytokines for the CE and NC groups(all P values 0.05).In the NC group,there was no difference in the concentration of IL-4 for PBMCs subjected to rAgB intervention and PBMCs subjected to no intervention.In the CE group,there were significant differences in the concentration of IFN-γ,IL-12p70,and IL-10(t= 2.580,2.745,2.213,respectively.P0.05) but not IL-4(t=0.722,P0.05) in comparison to the NC group.Conclusion The low level of expression of CD14 in CE patients may affect the ability of mononuclear cells to differentiate,leading to the formation of immature mononuclear cells.The main antigen of Eg,which tends to promote a Th2-type response,may also have an effect.These two phenomena are important factors for compromised immunity caused by chronic infection with CE.