Abstract:

Objective     To evaluate the influences of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and dexamethasone on the ability of HepCHLine-4 cells to Hepatitis B virus (HBV)  infection. Methods     HepCHLine-4 cells were divided into four groups: the DMSO group, in which HepCHLine-4 cells were cultured in Dulbecco′s modified Eagle′s medium(DMEM) with 20mL/L DMSO for 4 days; the dexamethasone group, in which HepCHLine-4 cells were cultured in DMEM with 5×10-5mol/L dexamethasone for 4 days; the DMSO plus dexamethasone group, in which HepCHLine-4 cells were cultured in DMEM with 20mL/L DMSO and 5×10-5mol/L dexamethasone for 4 days; and the control group, in which HepCHLine-4 cells were cultured in DMEM without DMSO or dexamethasone for 4 days. Further, HepCHLine-4 cells were incubated with HBV at 37℃ for 24 hours.  Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis Be antigen (HBeAg) in the supernatant of infected cells were detected by electrochemiluminescence(ECL) and HBV DNA was detected by fluorescence quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (FQ-RCR). Results     1) In the DMSO group the titer of HBsAg and HBeAg was relatively high; 2) In the dexamethasone group the titer of HBV DNA was relatively high; 3) In the DMSO plus dexamethasone group the titer of HbsAg, HBeAg and HBV DNA were higher. The highest levels were 125.790IU/mL, 4.784S/Co and 5.930 ×105 copies/mL respectively; 4) In the control group the titer of HbsAg, HBeAg and HBV DNA were lower, with the highest levels being 85.490IU/mL, 1.896S/Co, 3.729×104 copies/mL respectively. Conclusion     DMSO and dexamethasone can improve the ability of HepCHLine-4  to HBV infection

Key words: Hepatitis B virus; Dimethyl sulfoxide; Dexamethasone; Infection