Expression of Interleukin-12 mRNA in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Patients with Liver Injury

Objective To investigate the expression of interleukin-12 messenger RNA (mRNA) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and its role in the pathogenesis of the patients with liver injury.Methods PBMCs from 36 patients with chronic liver disease (CLD;hepatitis B virus,n=21;hepatitis C virus,n=15), 17 patients with fulminant hepatitis,11 patients with primary carcinoma of liver,and 18 normal controls (NCs) was obtained. After exposure to phytahematoagglutinin (PHA), the expression levels of interleukin-12 was measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).Results In the patients with liver injury,the levels of IL-12 mRNA were significantly elevated as compared with that of NCs(P0.001),while the levels of IL-12 mRNA in fulminant hepatitis was higher significantly than that in CLD(P0.001), the levels of IL-12 mRNA in primary carcinoma of liver significantly is higher than that in fulminant hepatitis (P=0.002). And the expression levels of IL-12 mRNA correlated significantly with the concentration of serum bilirubin, the degree of endotoximia and the prognosis.Conclusion IL-12 may play an important role in promoting inflammatory reactions leading to massive liver damage in the patients with liver injury.The levels of IL-12 mRNA could be used as the degree of liver damage, prodiagnosis and prognosis.