Evaluation of serum level of IL-12 in patients with occult HBV infection

Background and Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is a form of hepatitis in which despite the absence of detectable HBsAg, HBV-DNA is present in peripheral blood of patients. Investigators believed that the genetics and immunological parameters may be different in resistant individuals and patients. Cytokines, such as IL-12, could be leading to alteration in viral immune response. The main aim of this study was to investigate the serum level of IL12 in OBI patients.In this study, the plasma samples of 3700 HBsAg negative blood donors were tested for anti-HBs by ELISA. The HBsAg negative and anti-HBc positive samples were selected and screened for HBV-DNA by PCR. HBV-DNA positive samples were assigned as OBI cases and ELISA technique were performed to examine the serum level of IL-12 in OBI and 100 healthy controls.Our results showed that there was no significant difference in serum level of IL-12 between OBI patients and controls.In order to be clear of viruses, L-12 is increased in viral infection. Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that OBI patients can not produce enough IL-12 to clear HBV.