CTLA-4 and its ligands on the surface of T- and B-lymphocyte subsets in chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Background: During chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection, a number of co-stimulatory, co-inhibitory molecules and theirs ligands play a prominent role in the immune-regulation.

Objective: To compare the number of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells expressing co-inhibitory marker, cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) and program cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) between CHB infected patients and healthy controls.

Material And Method: Peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 19 CHB-infected patients and nine healthy controls were stained with specific combinations of the following monoclonal antibodies: CD3-PE/cy5, CD4-APC, CD8-APC, CD152-PE (CTLA-4), CD19PE/Cy5, CD80-FITC (B7-1), CD86-PE (B7-2) and CD274-FITC (B 7-H1) according to standard protocol.