Objective To investigate the correlation of T-lymphocyte expressing HLA-DR with serum HBV DNA and HBeAg contents in chronic hepatitis B. Methods Totally 134 chronic hepatitis B patients and 36 healthy blood donors were enrolled in the study. The T-lymphocytes (CD3 + HLA-DR + ,CD4 + HLA-DR+ and CD8 + HLA-DR+ T) expressing HLA-DR were detected by flow cytometry, the serum HBV viral loads were detected by the real-time quantitative PCR and HBeAg was detected by chemiluminescence method. According to serum HBV DNA viral loads patients were defined as HBV DNA negative (≤ 103 copies/mL), low (＞ 103 - 105 copies/mL), medium (＞ 105 - 107 copies/mL) and high groups (＞ 107 - 109 copies/mL) ; according to serum HBeAg levels, patients were defined as HBeAg negative (≤1 PEIU/mL), low (＞ 1 - 100 PEIU/mL), medium (＞ 100-1 000 PEIU/mL) and high groups (＞ 1 000-10 000 PEIU/mL). T test and one-way ANOVA were performed. Results With HBV DNA loads, HBeAg levels increased, the percentage of CD3 + HLA-DR + , CD4 + HLA-DR + and CD8 + HLA-DR +decreased, especially CD8 + HLA-DR +. Compared with HBV DNA negative group, the percentages of CD3 +HLA-DR + , CD4 + HLA-DR + and CD8 + HLA-DR + were significantly reduced in high group (t = 3. 686,4. 592 and 3. 216, P ＜ 0. 0l); the percentages of CD4 + HLA-DR + and CD8 + HLA-DR + were also reduced in medium group (t = 3. 761 and 2.862, P ＜ 0.01); while in low group, only the percentage of CD8 + HLA-DR + was reduced (t = 2.215, P ＜ 0.05). Compared with HBeAg negative group, the percentages of CD3 +HLA-DR+, CD4 + HLA-DR+ and CD8 + HLA-DR+ were significantly reduced in medium and high groups (thigher =3. 144, 2.222 and 4.035; tmiddle =3.311, 2.362 and 3.374, P ＜0.05), while in the low group,only the percentage of CD8+HLA-DR+ was reduced (t=2.029, P＜0. 05). Conclusion The combined measurement of HBV DNA, HBeAg and T-lymphocytes expressing HLA-DR in chronic hepatitis B patients may not only help to evaluate the immune status of patients, but also can predict the disease progression and clinical outcomes.