[Changes of lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of patients with hepatitis C]

To investigate the changes of lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of patients with hepatitis C.A total of 219 patients with hepatitis C and 66 healthy individuals served as normal controls were enrolled in the study. The proportions of T-lymphocytes (CD45(+)CD3(+), CD45(+)CD3(+)CD4(+), CD45(+)CD3(+)CD8(+)), B-lymphocytes (CD45(+)CD3(-)CD19(+)), NK-lymphocyte (CD45(+)CD3(-)CD16(+)56(+)) in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry.The count of peripheral lymphocyte subsets of patients with hepatitis C decreased from the stage of chronic infection to decompensated cirrhosis. The numbers of CD4(+), CD8(+)and NK lymphocytes of patients with chronic hepatitis C were significantly lower than those in healthy individuals (P0.05). In the early and decompensated stage of hepatic cirrhosis, the numbers of lymphocyte subsets of patients were significantly lower than those in patients with chronic hepatitis C (P0.01), and they were significantly lower in decompensated cirrhosis than in early cirrhosis (P0.01). The proportion of B lymphocyte and CD4/CD8 ratio of patients increased from chronic infection to decompensated cirrhosis. Compared with chronic infection, the proportion of B lymphocyte and CD4/CD8 ratio in early and decompensated cirrhosis increased significantly (P0.01 or P0.05), while the proportion of NK lymphocyte was significantly reduced (P0.01).From the stage of chronic infection to decompensated cirrhosis, patients with hepatitis C were found with the decreased numbers of CD4(+)T, CD8(+) T and NK lymphocytes, and the increased proportion of B lymphocyte and CD4/CD8 ratio.