Abstract: Objective To investigate the frequencies of regulatory T cells（Treg cells）,its subgroups and serum levels of IL-1β,IL-6 and IL-10 in HBV-related liver cirrhosis. Methods In 20 healthy persons,17 patients with chronic hepatitis B（CHB） and 38 with HBV-related liver cirrhosis（LC）,the frequencies of CD4⁺CD25⁺Fox3⁺ cells （Treg cells）,CD4⁺CD39⁺Fox3⁺cells（CD39⁺Treg cells）,and CD4⁺CTLA-4⁺ Fox3⁺cells（CTLA-4⁺ Treg cells） were detected by flow cytometry. The serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 were detected by ELISA. Results The frequencies of Treg cells,CD39⁺ Treg cells and CTLA-4⁺Treg cells and the serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 in patients with LC were higher than that in normal persons（P<0.01） and in with CHB（P<0.05 or P<0.01）;the frequencies of Treg cells,CD39⁺Treg cells and serum levels of IL-6 in patients with decompensated LC were higher than that in with compensated cirrhosis（P<0.01）; in LC group,the frequencies of Treg cells were positively correlated with CD39⁺ Treg cells（r=0.474,P<0.01）and CTLA-4⁺Treg cells（r=0.330,P<0.05）;the frequencies of Treg cells（r=0.381,P<0.05） and CD39⁺ Treg cells （r=0.333,P<0.05） were positively correlated with Tbil. The frequencies of Treg cells（r=-0.549,P<0.01）,CD39⁺ Treg cells（r=-0.437,P<0.01） and CTLA-4⁺Treg（r=-0.368,P<0.01） cells were negatively correlated with PTA,and the frequencies of CD39⁺Treg cells were positively correlated with AST（r=0.406,P<0.05）. Conclusion Changes of frequencies of Treg cells, its subgroups and levels of IL-1β,IL-6,IL-10 can be as a auxiliary examination to give a clinical diagnosis of HBV-related liver cirrhosis who are about to receive initial anti-viral treatment.

Key words: Hepatitis B, Liver cirrhosis, Regulatory T cells, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10