Korean J Nephrol.  1998 May;17(3):407-415.

Lymphocyte Subsets in Patients with Hepatitis B Virus Associated Glomerulonephritis

• Oh KH
• Ahn CR
• Oh JE
• Kim YS
• Han JS
• Kim SG
• Park MH
• Lee JS
• Park JS
• Lee JH

Abstract

Immune complex formation has been recently emphasized as an important pathogenetic mechanism of hepatitis B virus associated glomerulonephritis (HBGN), but little are known on the role of cell- mediated immunity in that disease. In this study, we measured lymphocyte subsets of the blood samples from three groups(HBGN group, healthy control group, hepatitis B group without renal disease) by flow cytometry in order to clarify abnormalities in immune regulatory system of HBGN. The results were as follows: 1) To compare between HBGN and healthy control group, the proportion of CD4+ cells were higher for HBGN than for healthy control but that of B lymphocytes were lower for HBGN than for healthy control. Between HBGN and hepatitis B group without renal disease, the proportion of B lymphocytes were higher for HBGN but that of NK cells were lower for HBGN(P<0.05). 2) To compare the male data of the three groups, the percentage of CD4+ cells in HBGN group were higher and the percentage of B lymphocytes were lower than healthy control. Between HBGN group and hepatitis B group without renal disease, no significant difference were noted in CD4+ cells, CD8+ cells, B lymphocytes, NK cells and CD4/CD8 ratio (P<0.05). 3) HBGN patients with membraneous nephropathy (MN) showed higher proportion of CD4+ cells than those with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN)(P<0.05). But, no difference was observed between HBGN patients with and without nephrotic syndrome. Nor between HBGN patients with and without HBe antigenemia. In conclusion, above result implies the pathogenetic role of cell-mediated immunity in HBGN. Analysis of lymphocyte subsets for each stage of HBGN, together with the assay of lymphocyte activation markers is required in the future.

Keyword

Hepatitis B virus; Glomerulonephritis; Lymphocyte; CD4 cell; CD8 cell

MeSH Terms

Antigen-Antibody Complex
B-Lymphocytes
Flow Cytometry
Glomerulonephritis*
Glomerulonephritis, Membranoproliferative
Hepatitis B virus*
Hepatitis B*
Hepatitis*
Humans
Immunity, Cellular
Killer Cells, Natural
Lymphocyte Activation
Lymphocyte Subsets*
Lymphocytes*
Male
Nephrotic Syndrome
Antigen-Antibody Complex