To investigate the frequency of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and the correlation between MDSCs, liver function and chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection.

30 CHB patients who were hospitalized or outpatient in Guangzhou First People's Hospital from March 2019 to October 2019 and did not receive antiviral therapy were selected as the CHB patient group, and 14 healthy person who underwent physical examination during the same period selected as the healthy control group. Flow cytometer (FCM) was used to detect the frequency of MDSCs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of CHB patients and healthy controls. At the same time, the HBV-DNA load of the two groups was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured by dry chemical method and automatic biochemical analyzer. Group t-test was used to compare and analyze the frequency of MDSCs between the two groups. Spearman correlation was used to analyze the correlation between MDSCs and HBV-DNA load, ALT and AST.

The frequency of MDSCs in CHB group was 2.347%, substantially higher than that in control group (0.929%), and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.002). There was no significant difference in the frequency of MDSCs between HBeAg positive and negative groups in CHB patients (P=0.170). The frequency of MDSCs was negatively correlated with ALT and AST in CHB patients (r=-0.319 or -0.214, all P＜0.05), but there was no correlation between the frequency of MDSCs and HBV-DNA load (r=-0.649, P=0.115).

The frequency of MDSCs in CHB patients was significantly higher than that in healthy controls, and negatively correlated with ALT and AST, suggesting that the increased recruitment of MDSCs in peripheral blood of CHB patientsmay be related to the chronic inflammation of CHB infection.