, 1989; Bochtler et al., 2008). IL-2 can drive the immunity toward the Th1-biased response to improve the cell-mediated response (Barouch et al., 2000). Th2 cells secrete high levels of IL-4, which can increase antibody production to help the Th2-biased immune response (McKee et al., 2008). In the present study, coadministration of rHBsAg and APS induced high levels of IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-4 in CD4+ T cells

(Fig. 3), indicating that APS as an adjuvant can promote both Th1 and Th2 immune responses. APS have been widely studied for their immunopotentiating properties, although the underlying mechanism modulating the immune responses remains unclear. Polysaccharides from natural sources such as plants, bacterial and fungi influence the immune system click here via regulating innate immune signals (Tzianabos, 2000; Brown and Gordon, 2003). Shao et al. (2004) have demonstrated that APS can activate the TLR-4 on macrophages surface in vitro. In the present study, we demonstrated that APS increased the expression of TLR-4 in total splenocytes in vivo (Fig. 4), suggesting APS activate the innate immune system through the TLR-4 signaling pathway. We aim now to detect which type of cells increased the expression of TLR-4. It is well known that removal of any negative signals is helpful in regulating the immune system. Yoo et al. (1996) demonstrated that TGF-β, as an immunosuppression factor, was most often observed

see more at higher levels in liver cells from patients with chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. Foxp3, the forkhead/winged helix transcription factor, is crucial for the development and function of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells, and plays a regulatory role in immunologic suppression

(Kao et al., Phloretin 2008; Di Nunzio et al., 2009; Kubota et al., 2010). Remarkably, APS as an adjuvant can inhibit the expression of TGF-β and the frequency of CD4+CD25+ Foxp3+ (Fig. 4). These results indicated that APS enhanced the immune response via inhibiting negative signals. In summary, our data showed that APS can be used as an effective adjuvant for enhancing both humoral and cellular responses to the hepatitis B vaccine via activating the innate signaling pathway and inhibiting negative signals. This strategy may provide a powerful prophylactic or therapeutic candidate vaccine for HBV infection. This work was supported in part by Two Sides Supporting Plan in Sichuan Agriculture University (00770103), Changing Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT0848) and Sichuan Education Commission (Project No. 09ZA072). X.D., X.C. and B.Z. contributed equally to this work. “
“B-1 cells play an important role in the outcome of infection in schistosomiasis, pneumonia and experimental filariasis. However, no information exists regarding status of B-1 cells in clinical manifestations of human filariasis. We investigated the levels of B-1 cells from the total B cells by flow cytometry.