Downregulation of CCR5 Expression on the Peripheral Blood CD8+ T Cells of Southeastern Iranian Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Infection

Abstract

Studies indicated that CC receptor 5 (CCR5), as a receptor for CC ligand 3, CCL4, and CCL5, plays important roles in the recruitment of T cytotoxic lymphocytes to the liver of chronic HBV (CHB)-infected patients. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the expression levels of CCR5 on the CD8+ T lymphocytes of CHB patients. This clinical study was performed on 63 CHB patients and 96 healthy controls. Flow cytometric analysis was performed to examine the expression of CCR5 on CD8+ T cells of CHB patients. Real-time PCR was also used for HBV-DNA quantification. The results of our study demonstrated that CCR5 expressing T cytotoxic cells were decreased significantly in CHB patients in comparison to healthy control. Based on our results, it can be concluded that the percent of CCR5+/CD8+ T cells in Iranian CHB patients is significantly decreased, hence their migration to the infected liver, and HBV eradication from the hepatocytes is disrupted.