Objective To investigate the expression of interferon inducible protein-10 (IP-10) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF), and its correlation with disease severity.Methods Eighty patients with HBV-ACLF, 60 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and 25 healthy controls were enrolled from the Affiliated Hospital of Hubei University of Arts and Science during October 2013 and February 2015.IP-10 mRNA in PBMC was measured by real time quantitative PCR.Independent sample t test was used to analyze the difference in IP-10 mRNA expression between HBV-ACLF patients with model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) ＜ 30 and ≥30, and Pearson correlation test was performed to analyze the correlations of IP-10 mRNA expression with alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin (TBil) and international normalized ratio (INR).Results The expressions of IP-10 mRNA in HBV-ACLF patients was 1.00 ± 0.19, which was higher than those in CHB patients and healthy controls (0.64 ± 0.08 and 0.41 ± 0.06, t =3.841 and 16.661, all P ＜ 0.01).The expression of IP-10 mRNA in HBV-ACLF patients with MELD ＜ 30 was 0.96 ±0.19, which was lower than that in patients with MELD ≥ 30 (1.14 ± 0.21, t =-2.283, P ＜0.05).Pearson correlation analysis showed that IP-10 mRNA level in HBV-ACLF patients was positively correlated with ALT, TBil and INR (r =0.697, 0.738 and 0.775, all P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion IP-10 mRNA is over-expressed in PBMC of patients with HBV-ACLF, and it is correlated with disease severity, which suggests that IP-10 may play an important role in the progression of liver failure.

Objective To study the correlation between the levels of IP-10 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and prognosis of acute-on-chronic hepatitis B virus related liver failure (HBV-ACLF).Methods Fifty patients diagnosed with HBV-ACLF were administered a combined modality therapy and followed up until death or for 3 months.In addition,20 patients with chronic hepatitis B(CHB),20 patients with hepatitis B related cirrhosis and 20 healthy volunteers were matched for use as control.The levels of IP-10 mRNA in PBMCs were detected at baseline and last follow-up visit and compared between groups by statistical analysis.Results At baseline,the CHB group had a significantly higher level of IP-10 mRNA in PBNCs than the healthy control group(t =-6.972,P ＜0.01).However,the level of IP-10 mRNA in PBMCs of the liver failure group was significantly higher than that of boththe CHB group(t =2.510,P ＜ 0.05) and the healthy control group (t =8.648,P ＜ 0.01).When patients within the liver failure group were divided by survival and death occurring during the 3-month follow-up period,the patients who died were found to have a significantly higher level of IP-10 mRNA in PBMCs than the surviving patients(P ＜ 0.01).The area under the curve of ROC curve is 0.81,and cut off value is 0.9255.Conclusion The level of IP-10 mRNA in PBMCs is positively correlated with risk of death in patients with HBV-ACLF,and its detecting might predict the prognosis of HBV-ACLF.