Objective: To study the effect of bicyclol tablets on the levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10 and interferon (IFN)-gamma in culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
Methods: Whole blood samples were obtained from 30 patients with CHB before and at 1 and 3 months during bicyclol tablet therapy and also from 7 healthy donors for isolation of the PBMCs. The product of IL-4, IL-10 and IFN-gamma in the culture supernatant of PBMCs were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) after 72 h of cultivation.
Results: At 3 months during the therapy, the level of IFN-gamma was increased significantly in the patients from 36.25+/-19.92 pg/ml to 53.19+/-7.28 pg/ml (P<0.05) and the level of IL-4 significantly decreased from 17.18+/-7.43 pg/ml to 9.74+/-7.75 pg/ml (P<0.01). The changes in the levels of IL-4 and IFN-gamma at 3 months during therapy were more obvious in patients with HBeAg positivity than in HBeAg-negative patients (8.74+/-6.12 pg/ml vs 20.51+/-9.16 pg/ml, 50.71+/-30.76 pg/ml vs 26.03+/-10.48 pg/ml, respectively, P<0.05).
Conclusion: Bicyclol tablets not only promote Th1 type cytokine-mediated immune responses but also down-regulates Th2 type cytokine-mediated immune responses.