Abstract: Objective To characterize the dendrictic cell subsets in peripheral blood and liver tissues of patients with hepatitis B-related acute-on-chronic liver failure（ACHBLF）. Methods 11 patients with ACHBLF who had undergone liver transplantation,10 patients with chronic hepatitis B and 5 healthy persons were enrolled in this study,and their liver tissue samples and peripheral blood were collected. The proportion of myeloid DC（mDC）and plasmatoid DC（pDC）in peripheral blood mononuclear cells（PBMCs） and liver-infiltrating lymphocytes（LILs） were detected by flow cytometric analysis. The IFN- alpha,IL-12 and IL-10 levels in the supernatants by PBMCs and LILs were investigated by ELISA when they were stimulated with polyI:C or CpG2216,respectively. The prevalence of pDC and mDC in liver tissues were also assessed by immunohistochemical techniques. Results The number of intrahepatic pDCs was significantly higher than in peripheral blood in ACHBLF patients,but no difference was found between in mDC and PBMCs;The IFN-alpha and IL-12 levels were remarkably lower in LILs than in PBMCs,but IL-10 was higher when stimulated with DC-specific stimulator,polyI:C,CpG2216 and IL-3;The mDCs and pDCs were found to be infiltrated in the livers of ACHBLF patients as compared with CHB or healthy subjects. Conclusions The intrahepatic DC subsets preferentially produces IL-10,which might exert an important role in immune regulation in situ of livers of ALHBLF patients.

Key words: Acute-on-chronic liver failure, Myeloid dendritic cells, Plasmacytoid dendritic cells